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EDITORIALS 

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EDITORIALS 



FROM 



% llteljiitgtott p00t 



1917-1920 

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BY 



IRA E. BENNETT 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 

THE WASHINGTON POST CO. 

1921 



U 52,3 



Copyright, 1921, by 

The Washington Post Co. 

AH Rights Reserved 



MAR - 



§)C!,A605931 



■ o I 



PREFACE 

IN response to the request of many friends, 
The Washington Post takes pleasure in re- 
producing herein a number of leading editorials 
written by Mr. Ira E. Bennett and appearing 
in The Post between January 1, 1917, and the 
Presidential election of 1920. 

Mr. Bennett has been in charge of the ed- 
itorial page of The Post since 1908. The selec- 
tions in this volume have been made by him. 

Edward B. McLean, 

Editor-President 

Washington, 

February, 1921 



[v] 



CONTENTS 

ARTICLE 1917 PAGE 

Preface v 

1917 Jan. 1 1 

The Impending Break Feb. 2 3 

The Break With Germany Feb. 4 5 

Put None but Americans on Guard! Feb. 5 7 

Germany Making War and Talking Peace Feb. 11 9 

Dismiss the Austrians! Mar. 23 11 

Germa ny's Fatal Mistake Mar.31 13 

The Irrepressible Conflict Apr. 2 15 

Liberty Draws the Sword Apr. 4 17 

Give Us Compulsory Service Apr. 11 19 

TKeTOne Great Need. . Apr. 16 21 

America's Opportunity Apr. 19 23 

Making Patriotism Efficient Apr. 28 25 

Arming the Executive Apr. 30 27 

Congress Must Organize the War Power May 6 29 

Food Control a War Necessity May 16 31 

Right and Might, the Weapons of Liberty June 4 33 

The Greater Army of Liberty June 7 35 

Why America Fights for Others June 13 37 

The Fated House of Hohenzollern June 15 39 

Our First Duty is to Win the War June 20 41 

Shipping Should be Controlled June 25 43 

Alien Enemies in Washington June 28 45 

Germans and the Truth July 19 47 

War Aims and Peace Terms July 28 49 

Seeking Out the Enemy Aug. 1 51 

Defeat Germany, Then Give Her Peace Aug. 5 53 

Why Not Fight With All Our Power? Aug. 7 55 

Another Year of War Aug. 8 57 

Through War to Liberty Aug. 22 59 

V The Dangers in an Armistice Aug. 28 61 

For Short and Victorious War Sept. 2 63 

[vii] 



ARTICLE 1917 PAGE 

The Army of Freedom Sept. 5 65 

Japan and the United States Sept. 8 67 

No Peace with Germany Unbeaten Sept. 11 69 

The Great Drama in Russia Sept. 13 71 

The War Must Go On Sept. 15 73 

Liberty on the March Sept.20 75 

The Changing Submarine Problem Sept. 24 77 

The Robber Wants Peace Sept.28 79 

Only at the Cannon's Mouth Oct. 1 81 

The World League Knocking Out War Oct. 4 83 

Under the Stars and Stripes Oct. 5 85 

Preparing Germany for the Truth Oct. 7 87 

An Opening for Statesmanship Oct. 9 89 

The Plans of the Enemy Oct. 12 91 

False vs. True Liberty Oct. 14 93 

Need of an Allied War Council Oct. 24 95 

Why the War May Be Prolonged Oct. 27 97 

Italy's Fight Our Fight Oct. 30 99 

Allies Must Have Better Teamwork Oct. 31 101 

Two Great Outstanding Facts Nov. 2 103 

Finally Getting Together Nov. 14 105 

Organization, Allied and Domestic Nov. 20 107 

The Truth as an Aid of the Allies Nov.21 109 

A Great Allied Weapon— Truth Nov. 22 111 

Let Heroic Acts be Rewarded Nov. 25 113 

Why and How Germany Will Lose Nov. 28 115 

The Allies' Duty Toward Russia Nov. 29 117 

No Peace With the Assassin Dec. 1 119 

Political Strategy in the War Dec. 2 121 

Congress and the War Dec. 3 123 

President Wilson's Address Dec. 5 125 

The Last Chapter of the Hapsburgs Dec. 7 127 

Massing Against the Teutons Dec. 8 129 

Loss of the Jacob Jones Dec. 9 131 

Jerusalem Delivered — The New Nation Dec. 11 133 

Duty of the Allies in Russia Dec. 12 135 

The Opportunity of the Allies Dec. 17 137 

Hysteria and Truth Dec. 19 139 

Relying Upon America Dec. 25 141 

[viii] 



ARTICLE 1917 PAGE 

German War and Peace Delusions Dec. 26 143 

On the European Fronts Dec. 28 145 

1918 

To Americans in the Year 1918 Jan. 1 147 

Russia Groping Toward Liberty Jan. 4 149 

The Great War Aim Jan. 6 151 

Freedom the Fundamental War Aim Jan. 12 153 

The Search for Efficiency Jan. 20 155 

Keep the End in Sight Jan. 21 157 

The Purse and the Sword Jan. 24 159 

An Invention of the Enemy Jan. 29 161 

The Concentration of Power Jan. 31 163 

The Enemy at Bay Feb. 5 165 

Reorganizing Executive Departments Feb. 8 167 

Bolo and Boloism Feb. 15 169 

The Allies United at Last Feb. 18 171 

Germany's Unconquerable Foe Feb. 19 173 

Powers United in Arms Feb. 20 175 

The Future of Russia Feb. 26 177 

No Peace Without Freedom Feb. 28 179 

Germany Called to Account Mar. 9 181 

Before the Battle Mar.20 183 

The Critical Hour Mar.25 185 

The Tide of Battle Mar.27 187 

Liberty's Flags Flying Mar.28 189 

The Enemy's Losing Fight Mar.29 191 

United for Triumph Mar.30 193 

Facing Hohenzollern Apr. 3 195 

End of the First Year Apr. 6 197 

The End is Victory , Apr. 11 199 

The Rugged Road Apr. 12 201 

The Invincible Allies Apr. 14 203 

A Time for Revolution Apr. 16 205 

The Last Foe of Liberty Apr. 17 207 

The Day of Reckoning Apr. 20 209 

No End Except Victory Apr. 21 211 

The Fresh Onslaught Apr. 25 213 

The Victory-Makers Apr. 26 215 

[ix] 



ARTICLE 1918 PAGE 

Germany's Last Struggle Apr. 27 217 

America's Share Apr. 28 219 

Germany's Failing Powers May 3 221 

"Consider the End" May 5 223 

Liberty's Deadly Blows May 7 225 

United and Indomitable May 10 227 

Strike Down Hapsburg May 11 229 

The Resolve of Humanity May 12 231 

In the Toils May 17 233 

The Heroic Hour May 18 235 

The End Ordained May20 237 

Liberty, Not Peace May22 239 

Imperishable Italy May 23 241 

The Elements of Victory May 31 243 

Through War to Liberty June 1 245 

Germany's Struggle Against Fate June 3 247 

Allies Must Help Russia June 6 249 

Preparing to Strike America June 10 251 

Fury and Failure June 11 253 

Great Opportunities Neglected June 12 255 

Where the Allies Should Strike June 20 257 

What Kind of Peace for Germany? June 28 259 

Nations Becoming Free July 3 261 

The Struggle Over Russia July 10 263 

The Lesson of Pan-German Gains July 12 265 

No Halt, No Truce, Nothing But Victory July 14 267 

Just Beginning to Fight July 16 269 

The Counterstroke July 19 271 

The Enemy's Next Move July 20 273 

Meaning of Germany's Reverse July 24 275 

The War's Anniversary July 28 277 

The Scales of Brute Strength Aug. 6 279 

The Allies Must Dictate Peace Aug. 8 281 

Unity of Command Aug. 12 283 

Both Peace and Liberty Aug. 18 285 

America's Part Aug. 22 287 

Enemy Peace Overtures Aug. 23 289 

No Peace Without Victory Aug. 27 291 

War Winners Must Be Peace Makers Aug. 31 293 

[x] 



ARTICLE 1918 PAGE 

Germany's Last Card Sept. 1 295 

The Rise of New Nations Sept. 4 297 

The March of Victory Sept. 8 299 

America Strikes Sept. 13 301 

The Crisis in Russia Sept. 14 303 

Who Will Dare to Make Peace? Sept. 16 305 

The Finish Fight Sept. 19 307 

Bulgaria's Peace Appeal Sept. 28 309 

Closing In On the Enemy Oct. 2 311 

The Critical Days Oct. 6 313 

The Enemy in Panic Oct. 12 315 

Peace Offers as War Traps Oct. 17 317 

Liberty and Its Counterfeit Oct. 19 319 

Nearer to Victorious Peace Oct. 24 321 

Critical Times at Hand Oct. 31 323 

The Crumbling of Empires Nov. 1 325 

The Triumph of Right Nov. 12 327 

Let the Enemy Starve First Nov. 16 329 

Watch the Enemy Nov. 17 331 

The Making of Peace Nov. 19 333 

The League of Nations Nov. 30 335 

The People Reserve Judgment Dec. 3 337 

The Real and the Ideal Dec. 22 339 

No Supersovereign Wanted Dec. 23 341 

Fourteen Sea Points Dec. 24 343 

The Day of Peace Dec. 25 345 

The Nation Supreme Dec. 26 347 

Abolish the German Empire Dec. 28 349 

The Nature of a World League Dec. 29 351 

1918 Dec. 31 353 

1919 

The Enemy of All Nations Jan. 13 355 

The Great Struggle Begins Jan. 18 357 

The Nation Slayers Jan. 22 359 

The Five Guardians Jan. 23 361 

No Substitute for Free Nations Jan. 30 363 

The Power That Rules Feb. 1 365 

America's Policies and Their Makers Feb. 7 367 

[xi] 



ARTICLE 1919 PAGE 

The Allied Powers and Russia Feb. 14 369 

The League of Nations Project Feb. 15 371 

The People Must Decide Feb. 16 373 

The Duty of the United States Feb. 25 375 

Let the Eastern Hemisphere Combine Feb. 27 377 

The Way to Freedom and Peace Feb. 28 379 

America Cannot Furnish All the Altruism Mar. 3 381 

A Few Examples Mar. 9 383 

The Eastern Half Mar. 10 385 

The Coming Alternative Mar. 13 387 

The Voyage of Josephus Mar. 14 389 

A Mistaken Foreign Assumption Mar. 17 391 

Victor Nations Will Prevail Mar. 30 393 

Look Beneath the Surface Apr. 5 395 

No Alliance Needed or Advisable Apr. 21 397 

Allies Must Remain Friends Apr. 25 399 

Fiume, Danzig and Kiaochow Apr. 27 401 

The Constitution Is a Covenant Apr. 30 403 

China's Indictment May 4 405 

The Substitute for Nations May 7 407 

Americans Rule the United States May 10 409 

No Peace Through Intermeddling May 20 411 

Lazarus at the Gate June 2 413 

The Incubus at Paris June 3 415 

Partnership With the Germans June 15 417 

Germans Are Still Enemies June 23 419 

Some Treaty Provisions July 12 421 

A Spokesman for Defeatism July 19 423 

United Germany, Disunited Russia July 25 425 

Thinking It Over July 27 427 

The Case of Shantung July 29 429 

The Attack on Americanism Aug. 7 431 

The Cause and the Remedy Aug. 10 433 

"Industrial Democracy" Aug. 11 435 

The Allies and Russia Aug. 12 437 

A Momentous Conference Aug. 20 439 

The Fundamental Issue Aug. 23 441 

The Nature of the Treaty Aug. 28 443 

Is the United States Kept Safe? Sept. 1 445 

[xii] 



ARTICLE 1919 PAGE 

Our First League of Nations Sept. 2 447 

America's Steadying Power Sept. 15 449 

The Cause of Wars Sept. 27 451 

The Anglo-Persian Treaty Oct. 5 453 

The Future of France Oct. 10 455 

Saving the United States Nov. 12 457 

Relations With Other Nations Nov. 15 459 

The Friend of France Nov. 16 461 

Free Nations Getting Together Nov. 18 463 

The World's Money Sickness Nov. 19 465 

In the President's Hands Nov. 21 467 

Trustees of the People Dec. 2 469 

Victors Free to Act Dec. 12 471 

Europe's Way Out Dec. 16 473 

France's New Plan for Safety Dec. 18 475 

The Honor of the Navy Dec. 23 477 

Alien and Domestic Reds Dec. 24 479 

Two Delicate Points Dec. 29 481 

Why America Halts Dec. 30 483 

1920 

What the New Year Sees Jan. 1 485 

German Hope in the League Jan. 2 487 

League of Nations Finance Jan. 5 489 

A Message to France Jan. 11 491 

The Power to Veto Peace Jan. 12 493 

No Compromise on Americanism Jan. 13 495 

Europe and the League Jan. 15 497 

Viscount Grey's Plea Feb. 4 499 

The Wrecking of Victory Feb. 5 501 

The Battle Over the Treaty Feb. 8 503 

Washington's "Great Rule" Feb. 23 505 

Self-interest of the Nations Feb. 25 507 

The Coming Readjustment Mar. 4 509 

The Founder of a Republic Mar. 7 511 

Willing to Overreach America Mar. 12 513 

The Two Great Mistakes Mar.21 515 

Not Binding Upon Americans Apr. 3 517 

A Friend in Adversity Apr. 4 519 

[ xiii 1 



ARTICLE 1920 PAGE 

The Power to Make Peace Apr. 5 521 

Why France Ignores the League Apr. 7 523 

Learning the Truth Apr. 30 525 

Qualities of a President May *3 527 

Joined to the World May 17 529 

The World's Best Guarantee May 21 531 

Armenia — and Mexico ! May 25 533 

The Problem Made Simple May 28 535 

For Americans to Decide May 31 537 

The Momentous Choice June 12 539 

The Republican Nominees June 13 541 

Lloyd George and Lenine June 25 543 

Mr. Cox for President July 7 545 

Right Remains Armed July 16 547 

Col. House Speaks July 22 549 

Senator Harding's Speech July 23 551 

After Six Years July 28 553 

Gov. Cox on the Supreme Issue Aug. 8 555 

Three That Stand Together Aug. 17 557 

A Question and an Answer Sept. 3 559 

Maine and the Great Issue Sept. 14 561 

"The Main Issues" Sept,22 563 

The Concrete Issue Oct. 2 565 

Time to Lift the Burdens Oct. 3 567 

The Meaning of "America First" Oct. 6 569 

Why the League Is Opposed Oct. 8 571 

Why American Boys Fought Oct. 10 573 

Americans Will Control America Oct. 23 575 

A Fact and a Fallacy Oct. 25 577 

Pitfalls Other Than Wars Oct. 27 579 

The People's Reasons Oct. 31 581 

The People's Verdict Nov. 3 583 



[xiv] 



Monday, January 1, 1917 

1917 

THE astonished earth swings today into another cycle of the 
mysterious journey that began no man knows when and will 
end no man knows where. The moment of its existence known 
as 1916 was full of blood and tears. It saw fourteen nations grap- 
pling, some of them dying, others receiving their death blow, and 
still others drawing near the fatal embrace of war. On the last day 
it heard ten of these nations proclaiming their purpose to bring the 
other four to their knees at any cost, and it saw the lighting of new 
fires which will throw their lurid light across 1917 and perhaps com- 
pletely around the earth. 

The dawn of 1917 comes up blood red, with storm clouds flying 
low over the hemispheres. It is the beginning of a stupendous year 
for men and nations. The groan of death mingles with the laughter 
of those who clink unmeasured gold. Famine is stealing upon some 
nations, while others grow fat upon destruction. The books of the 
law are in flames or are dropped into the sea. Organized murder is 
the only aim, and brute force is the only law. Hell laughs at its 
mastery of the earth. 

In the West is a mighty nation free from war, bursting with 
wealth, young, eager, with the strength of the eagle in its wings. 
What of the United States? What part is it to play in the bloody 
drama of humanity in 1917? 

Its President is transmitting to the central powers the message 
that proclaims continued war. He has asked the belligerents to take 
soundings and tell the world why they are fighting. They refuse to do 
even this much. He has asked the neutrals to join him in efforts to 
bring about peace, and they refuse. 

The power that can make peace by surrendering has no thought 
of surrender. It is preparing to deal heavier blows by land and sea. 
Its unequaled organization, inspired by dauntless courage and public 
unity, is capable of exertions which, with those of its allies, may 
spread war throughout the world. Rather than surrender, this power 
will fight with utter disregard of laws that have heretofore restrained 
nations at war. Therefore the United States, instead of bringing the 
nations into peace, is more than likely to be itself drawn into war 
in defense of its outraged rights. 

[1] 



NINETEEN SEVENTEEN 



The President and Congress are shaping their plans with a view 
to meeting this dreadful event. More has been done than has been 
made public, but much remains to be done. There is confusion of 
counsel, largely because the people are unaware of the danger. There 
is no lack of patriotism, but there is a lack of manifestation of it. 
When the hour strikes the people will stand unitedly behind their 
government. But it would be better if they stood unitedly now and 
perceived the wisdom of preparing for what may come. The petty 
questions that seem to engross public attention may be swept aside 
like chaff within a few weeks when the President lays bare the crisis 
that confronts the country. 

Congress is in session and its leaders know what to do. The 
defenses of the country are dependent upon Congress. There is no 
lack of wealth. The public credit is an inexhaustible fountain of 
wealth. The nation owes less than $1,000,000,000, and its domestic 
business during 1916 was 45 times that figure, while its foreign busi- 
ness reached $8,000,000,000, the greatest in the history of any nation 
at any time. This wealth must be used for defense of the independ- 
ence and rights of the nation, if these should be assailed. The army 
is insignificant, and even in its littleness is unprepared. The aero- 
plane service is nonexistent. The country has no submarines worthy 
of the name. It has no battle cruisers, and its fastest ships are slower 
than the Bleucher, which went down because it was overhauled by 
the enemy. The duty of Congress now is the same as its duty last 
year — to prepare the nation against war. The measures now under 
consideration should be amplified to meet the scope of the emergency 
that may confront the United States. More men, more sailors, more 
ships, more forts should be provided forthwith. 

In the meantime, it behooves the employers and workers to get 
together. This is not the time for strikes and demoralization of 
the nation's railroads and industries. The President is doing his 
best to prevent domestic troubles which may cripple the nation in 
a vastly more important field. Every employer and every working- 
man should stand by the President and Congress. The portents at 
the beginning of the year 1917 are too big to be overlooked. The 
United States is under notice to prepare itself for war. 



[2] 



Friday, February 2, 1917 

The Impending Break 

THE more the present situation is studied, the more apparent it 
becomes that a clash between the United States and Germany 
is now almost unavoidable. It can be prevented only by the 
backdown of Germany. If the submarine campaign on the new lines 
is persisted in, American life will be taken and American ships will 
be sunk, and there will be war. 

The proposition is that the United States should acquiesce in 
the creation of a death zone on the high seas, in which every vessel 
entering shall perish, and that this country should humbly accept 
a concession from Germany for the running of a single passenger 
steamer on condition that Germany shall specify the nature of the 
flag to be flown, the itinerary and route and the port of call. This 
proposal is an affront to the sovereignty of the United States. 

Probably the severance of diplomatic relations will be the pre- 
lude to more important developments. The President has his own 
reasons for acting without undue haste. It is quite possible that navy 
dispositions should be made, shipping instructions issued through the 
Treasury and measures taken by the Department of Justice toward 
suspects and conspirators before the government will take more 
decisive steps. Once relations with Germany are broken, the in- 
terval before actual war may be brief, indeed. It must be remembered 
that President Wilson has in his possession much information that is 
not accessible to the public. He is acting in the light of this informa- 
tion and not on the mere impulse of indignant repudiation of Ger- 
many's aggressive note. Therefore before he recalls Ambassador 
Gerard and dismisses Ambassador von Bernstorff he will have dis- 
posed of other matters which require action. 

It is conjectured that the President has sent notice to Germany 
that if it acts in pursuance of the threat conveyed in the note of 
January 31 he will sever relations with that government. If such a 
notice has been sent, it is evidently for the sake of making the record 
clear in history that the United States left no stone unturned in its 
effort to maintain its right without resorting to war. That the notice 
will have the slightest deterrent effect upon Germany cannot be 
expected. The new rule of submarine warfare is already in effect, 
and it is only by happy chance that an American ship was not tor- 

[3] 



THE IMPENDING BREAK 

pedoed on the first day. So far as avoidance of a break is concerned, 
nothing is to be gained by waiting for an overt act. The official 
notice from the German government is in itself a cause of rupture, 
for it repudiates all the pledges heretofore given, upon which diplo- 
matic relations depended. The fact that the President has not im- 
mediately taken Germany at its word is evidence that he is disposing 
of other important matters preliminary to that fateful step. 



[4] 



Sunday, February 4> 1917 
The Break With Germany 

PRESIDENT WILSON met the expectation and desire of the 
people of the United States when he recalled Ambassador 
Gerard, dismissed the German Ambassador, and notified 
Congress that he had severed relations with the German government. 

He also voiced the universal sentiment of America, when he 
served notice that if American ships and lives are sacrificed by Ger- 
man submarine commanders in violation of law and the dictates of 
humanity he would ask Congress to give him authority to use any 
means necessary to protect American citizens. "I can do nothing 
less," said the President, adding significantly, "I take it for granted 
that all neutral governments will take the same course." 

If German submarine commanders have not already sacrificed 
American life they are almost sure to do so under the orders estab- 
lishing the new murder zone on the high seas. If the United States 
now avoids war with the German empire it will be a miracle of good 
fortune. "Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad," and 
no further evidence is needed to prove that the rulers of the German 
empire have gone mad. They have summoned the powers of the 
world to fall upon them, and apparently will not be satisfied until 
they have goaded every neutral into war. 

So be it. The President has made it clear that Americans will not 
hesitate between war and abdication of the independence of the 
United States. 

The situation now calls for extraordinary precautions and rapid 
preparation. Nothing should be taken for granted. Every step that 
is called for short of actual hostilities should be taken immediately. 
Domestic conspiracy and foreign aggression must be blocked by 
advance preparations wherever possible. The emergency is such that 
a state of war may develop at any moment. 

The United States is no longer neutral. It is not only driven 
into a sympathetic attitude toward the nations at war with Germany, 
but it is morally free to assist them even if war does not develop 
between this country and Germany. An immediate understanding 
between the United States and the entente nations is desirable, with 
a view to instant and complete cooperation in case this nation becomes 
a belligerent. The ports of the United States should be thrown open 

[5] 



THE BREAK WITH GERMANY 

at once to the warships of the entente powers; the wireless system 
should be placed at their disposal; information gathered by Ameri- 
can agents abroad should be conveyed to the entente governments for 
the purpose of capturing German raiders and detecting German sub- 
marine bases and operations. A hundred and one friendly services 
may be extended to the entente governments now with perfect pro- 
priety. 

If war should come, it would be well for Congress to authorize 
the President to increase the enlisted force of the navy to at least 
125,000 men, and that of the army to 1,000,000 men. He should also 
be authorized to take over and operate all the shipyards of the 
United States and to take possession of every vessel under American 
registry, if deemed necessary. Moreover, the railroads of the United 
States should be placed in control of the President, at his discretion. 
He should be authorized to borrow $1,000,000,000 on the credit of 
the United States. 



[6] 



Sunday, February 11, 1917 
Germany Making War and Talking Peace 

GERMANY, it appears, has made, or is about to make, overtures 
■ to the United States suggesting a discussion for the purpose of 
devising ways and means of preventing war between the two 
nations. The intimation is thrown out that while "military necessity" 
prevented the giving of advance notice to neutral shipping to avoid 
the death zone prescribed by Germany, there is now a disposition on 
Germany's part to avoid the sinking of neutral passenger ships with- 
out warning. 

If such a proposition should be made by Germany it will be 
merely an insult. 

The United States is not seeking to avoid war by yielding any 
of its rights. 

Germany cannot have peace with the United States and pursue 
its present policy. 

No nation in the world can fence in a part of the high seas and 
destroy American ships or American citizens entering therein without 
provoking war with this country. 

Germany totally mistakes the temper of the President and the 
American people. They are not prepared to barter with Germany 
on the basis of escaping war by recognizing the validity of the German 
death zone. 

The proposal to discuss the question is a snare and a scheme for 
gaining time while Germany continues its wholesale murders of neu- 
trals and terrorizes neutral commerce. 

The refusal of Germany to respect neutrals, the persistent sinking 
of vessels carrying Americans, and the standing threat to destroy 
American vessels not obeying German rules constitute acts of war. 

Germany is now engaged in making war upon American life and 
American commerce, and is destroying both. 

It is now only a question of hours when this de facto war will 
become a proclaimed public war. A single outrage may precipitate 
action by Congress, but there will be war in any event unless Ger- 
many abandons its attempts to assert sovereign authority over 
America. 

[9] 



GERMANY MAKING WAR AND TALKING PEACE 

Peace by the surrender of independence has not entered the 
heart or mind of any American citizen, and it will not do so while 
the republic endures. 

The maintenance of independence is the first care of every 
American, from the President down to the latest naturalized citizen. 
Peace or war is secondary to the main issue. 

It appears to be impossible for Germany to conceive of a nation 
whose government will not secretly and treacherously barter away 
some of its sovereignty for the sake of peace. Nation after nation 
has shown Germany its mistake, but it is unable to learn by expe- 
rience. It is now testing out the spirit of the United States, by savage 
threats on one hand and perfidious overtures on the other. 

An American government that would purchase peace by agree- 
ing to the exclusion of Americans from the high seas, or the regula- 
tion of American shipping by a foreign nation, would be swept out 
of power by the people rising to war. No American President or 
Congress has ever given the slightest evidence of such pusillanimity. 

Germany's overtures are palpably intended to seduce the United 
States into keeping peace while recognizing the validity of the murder 
zone decree, or, failing that, to make it appear 1 that the United States 
went to war even after Germany had offered to moderate the rigors 
of its control over American shipping. 

There can be no half-way measures; no compromise whereby a 
lesser instead of a greater part of American sovereignty is sold for 
the sake of peace. 

America's terms are: Full recognition of and respect for Ameri- 
can rights, or war. 

Germany can take her choice now, but her answer must be 
prompt. 



[10 1 



Friday, March 23, 1917 

Dismiss the Austrians ! 

THE United States government should put an end to the equivo- 
cal and dangerous situation arising out of its present relations 
with Austria-Hungary. 

Germany's ally has given ample cause for a break in relations 
by adhering to the German policy of murdering Americans on the 
seas and by declaring that American merchant vessels are pirates. 
But even if Austria had not taken this position a severance of rela- 
tions is advisable and may soon be necessary. 

The German embassy and consulates in this country have been 
closed, but Germany's ally is doing business here in the heart of the 
United States. Every intrigue that Germany may have initiated 
can be carried on by means of the Austrian diplomatic and consular 
establishment in this country. Is it safe to assume that the Austrians 
will not carry forward what the Germans have begun? 

Count Tarnowski has not been received by President Wilson, 
but he is not prevented from exercising his energies in behalf of 
Austria's ally. The American telegraph and mails and railroads are 
as free to Count Tarnowski as they are to President Wilson. German 
plotters in the United States know where to find a rallying point, if. 
they need one. They know where they can obtain information and 
assistance, and perhaps official instructions. 

There is no personal feeling against Count Tarnowski or the 
other representatives of Austria in this country. They are agreeable 
gentlemen. But this is not the time to neglect obvious precautions 
merely because vigilant and effective action would hurt the feelings 
of persons under the pay and control of a government allied with 
our public enemy. 

From the moment that war exists between the United States and 
Germany the position of Ambassador Penfield at Vienna will be 
untenable. He cannot conduct negotiations of any importance, for 
the reason that Germany will be made acquainted with all details 
and will thwart the United States at every turn. Similarly, Count 
Tarnowski at Washington cannot hope to be of service to his country. 
This government would not deal with him. 

The diplomatic intercourse between the United States and Tur- 
key and Bulgaria will also come to an end by force of circumstances. 

[ll] 






DISMISS THE AUSTRIANSI 

Turkey is absolutely dominated by Germany, and scores of American 
citizens in Turkish territory are now in danger solely because of 
Germany's hostile attitude. American vessels cannot obtain safe 
oonduct to go to Beirut and bring the Americans away. Our war 
vessels will go to Beirut, anyhow, as soon as war develops. Relations 
unh Turkey and Bulgaria will surely be ruptured. 

The most urgent matt it, however, is the closing of the Austrian 
embassy and consulates in this country. If mischief is afoot, these 
places cannot be closed too soon. The presumption is that Germany's 
machinations arc carried on through Austrian agents. 

Embassador Penfield should be recalled, and Count Tarnowski 
should receive his passports forthwith. 



[12 



Saturday, March 31, 1917 

Germany's Fatal Mistake 

THE United States will soon be at war. Germany, through her 
prime minister, declared Thursday that submarine murder 
would continue and that if the United States should go to war 
Germany would overcome this nation. 

As soon as Congress assembles President Wilson will lay the 
facts before it. Congress should instantly sound the call to arms. 

The nation must stand as one man behind the President, and bid 
him take up his mighty task with a clear conscience and a stout 
heart. 

Weak men must give way to strong men. The coward pacifist 
in Congress, if there be any such, must hold his tongue. Congress 
comes here to execute the people's will. It is the people's will, set 
forth in the Constitution, that this nation shall maintain liberty for 
themselves and their posterity. It is their will, voiced by Abraham 
Lincoln, that this government shall not perish from the earth. It is 
their will, when liberty is assailed, to attack and destroy the assailant. 

When Congress assembles next Monday, let it organize forthwith 
and receive the President. Let it declare war on the opening day. 
Let it devote its session to assembling the gigantic unorganized power 
of this nation to do battle. 

The mightiest army on earth is under the orders of the madmen 
who declare that they will destroy the United States if it dares to 
protect the lives of its own people. These men have a navy twice 
as powerful as the United States navy. If they were not confronted 
by organized nations that, are fighting in d'-n-n-e of humanity, they 
could and would attack, bombard and invade the United States. They 
are held back, not by fear of us, but by the armies and navies of 
Great Britain and France. 

The fatuous, slothful and cowardly spirit that masquerades as 
pacifism must be thrust out of American hearts. The spirit of 
Washington and Paul Jones and Lincoln must be revived if this 
nation is to retain the liberty which they and their mighty comrades 
won for us. America aroused can smash any power that comes up 
against it, but America besotted with fatnese .aid ignorance can be 
robbed and overcome. 

[13] 



GERMANY'S FATAL MISTAKE 

"Overcome" is the word which Germany uses to describe what it 
will do to the United States. "Overcome!" How does that word 
sound to an American? How does it feel to be classed with Belgium, 
Serbia, Poland and Roumania? 

Germany counts upon America to defeat herself by greed, cow- 
ardice, divided counsel, domestic treachery, and mere inability to 
organize victory. Germany regards America as a huge mob of dis- 
cordant nationalities scrambling for money. Have we not encour- 
aged her to form this false opinion? Have we not failed to prepare 
ourselves in spirit and in weapons? 

Germany knows that if America were united and on fire with 
the heroic spirit of liberty militant, the declaration of war would 
sound the doom of the German empire. But she does not believe 
that this unity is possible; she believes that this spirit is dead. 

Germany has seen evidence of discord, and unscrupulous politics, 
and greed, and stupor. She has seen no evidence of the old spirit 
that knocked over thrones in this hemisphere. She has not seen the 
eagle on the crags or heard his battle-scream. 

The hour has come for the world to hear the eagle scream again. 



[14 1 



Monday, April 2, 1917 

The Irrepressible Conflict 

THE Sixty-fifth Congress will meet today to consider what action 
shall be taken against the power that has struck a deadly blow 
at the sovereignty of the United States, sunk American ships 
and murdered American citizens. 

This power has ordered the United States to keep its vessels off 
the seas. It declares that it will continue to sink our ships and 
murder our citizens, and that if we dare to go to war it will overcome 
this nation. 

Three years ago, if these statements had been made as a predic- 
tion regarding the relations between Germany and the United States 
in 1917, they would have been dismissed as utterances of a madman. 
So swift has been the onrush of the hurricane, so unbelievable has 
been the manifestation of despotism's deadly hostility to liberty, 
that large numbers of the American people, patriotic as they are at 
heart, do not yet grasp the fact that the nation must fight to main- 
tain its independence. They have lived secure in liberty so long that 
they will not believe liberty is assailed until they actually hear the 
war trumpet sound. 

Fortunately the majority of the people have been vigilant from 
the outbreak of the war. They see and understand the nature of the 
danger that confronts the country. They know that the nation's 
assailant must be put down by force. They are ready for the struggle. 

Abraham Lincoln said: "This nation cannot endure permanently 
half slave and half free." If he were living now he would say: 
"This nation cannot endure permanently free on land and a slave 
on the sea." 

Germany assumes the right to exclude the United States from 
the sea. She maintains the attempt by making war and threatening 
the defeat of this nation if it resists. 

Unless the United States frustrates that attempt and defeats the 
power that challenges its sovereignty it will not be a free nation. It 
will be under the orders of Germany. 

This nation is strong because it is free. It cannot wear chains 
and be strong. If it yields half of its freedom it will not be strong 
enough to maintain the other half. If Germany can successfully 

[151 



THE IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT 

assert predominance over this nation on the ocean she can and will 
assert it over this hemisphere. 

When our fathers won freedom and sovereignty for the United 
States they did not win a qualified victory. They threw off all yokes 
and bonds. When the Union was in danger they made it forever 
secure against disruption from within. Now their sons are called 
upon to defend the nation against foreign assault; to preserve Liberty 
and Union in all their integrity; to hand down unimpaired the full 
independence and sovereignty of the United States. 

The Union is safe. The men who fought against it were marvels 
of bravery. Their sons inherit their valor and to the last man are 
defenders of the Union. 

The fight now is between despotism and liberty. A nation thought 
to be civilized has thrown off its disguise and with naked savagery, 
bomb in hand, is attacking this nation. It will have its way with 
us or it must be beaten down by brute force. 

Germany and the United States cannot both have their way. 
Either American sovereignty must be curtailed or Germany's assault 
upon it must be put down. The American flag must leave the sea 
or prevail against the savage that assails it. 

There is no confusing the issue. It is only too deadly clear. 
German speech has been a mere cloak to cover aggression. German 
honor is no more. German promises are lies. German peace offers 
are the ruses of the savage seeking for advantage. The German pur- 
pose is as clear as day. It is to intimidate if possible, and if this 
does not succeed, to attack and defeat the nation that refuses to 
obey its orders. The German military oligarchy gladly welcomes the 
opportunity to strike at self-government and liberty, which it recog- 
nizes as deadly enemies of tyranny. The American flag stands for 
all that oligarchy fears and hates. 

Americans in Congress: The American people rely upon you. 
They ask you to assemble the forces of the nation and move against 
Germany. They expect you to arm the President with power to 
destroy the enemy. They trust you to take such action as will make 
the American flag inviolable henceforth throughout the globe. 

Draw the sword, Americans in Congress! 



[16] 



Wednesday, April 4, ^917 
Liberty Draws the Sword 

AMERICANS are now witnesses of the unprecedented spectacle 
L of democracy stripping for a death-grapple with autocracy. 
Never before have democracy and autocracy met face to face 
in a knockout fight for domination of the world. The issue heretofore 
has not been clearly defined, or the combatants have been unevenly 
matched, or the field of battle has been too restricted. Usually 
autocracy was too cunning to come into the open and fight a democ- 
racy that had been aroused. It was only when democracy was 
unfledged or unprepared or in a stupor that autocracy asserted all its 
brutality and mercilessness. When the sons of liberty were awake 
and armed, autocracy avoided a finish fight by false pretenses of 
peace and by making concessions. 

The German autocracy deemed the time auspicious for asserting 
domination of the world. Democracy seemed to be asleep. It was 
unprepared. Its borders were unguarded, its weapons rusty, its spirit 
apparently debased by prosperity and cowardice. Autocracy, on the 
other hand, was armed to the teeth, and all its complicated enginery 
of war organized for concerted action. The German people were 
molded into a war machine, as obedient to their masters as clay is 
to the potter. As the clay does not ask the potter why or wherefore, 
so the German people dared not question their war lords. The hour 
was ripe for action, and the system of despotic mandate and slavish 
obedience was in perfect working order. 

In Russia the autocracy seemed to be all-powerful, also, and 
doubtless the Romanoffs and Hohenzollerns dreamed of disposing 
of conquered peoples as their imperial wills and the dynasty's best 
interest should determine. But democracy awoke in Russia, and 
autocracy crumbled in a night. It is too much to expect the same 
phenomenon to occur soon in Germany, although the forthcoming 
defeat of the Hohenzollerns on the field of battle may work a mighty 
change in the breasts of the infatuated Germans. 

Now comes the great republic, the natural enemy and destroyer 
of autocracy. With insane rage autocracy has challenged the sov- 
ereignty of this nation. It has struck squarely at the life of democ- 
racy, and boasts that it will overcome the United States. 

The spokesman of the world's free people has sounded the call 
to arms. America is called upon to defend herself and destroy her 

[17] 



LIBERTY DRAWS THE SWORD 

assailant. There is not room on earth or ocean for both autocracy 
and democracy. One or the other must perish. 

The American Congress now obeys the will of democracy by 
arraying the nation for battle. It is a majestic spectacle that is 
presented under the dome of the Capitol. There are concentrated 
the heart and mainspring of titanic forces, whose effects will be felt 
to the ends of the earth. Like a forge of Vulcan, the Congress is 
hammering out gigantic engines for the destruction of the dark power 
that has defied Liberty to arms. Not in hysterical and nervous haste, 
but with massive strokes which shape the rivets of destiny, Congress 
is bringing into being the weapons that will hurl the Hohenzollern 
from his throne. 

It is not a reichstag that works on Capitol Hill. It is not a gath- 
ering of pallid sycophants, meekly bowing to the will of a war- 
crazed autocrat and his group of saber-rattlers. It is not a counterfeit 
parliament, falsely pretending to represent the people while betraying 
them. No! It is an assembly of free men, representing free men, 
established and perpetuated by free men, and endowed by God and 
nature with the moral and physical power to declare and maintain 
freedom against any enemy, foreign or domestic. Congress is the 
right arm of the oldest republic in the world; the custodian of the 
sword that guards this nation, this hemisphere, and the adjoining 
seas. 

How grateful to the American patriot are the lights of the Capitol! 
How eagerly does he watch for the first glint of the terror and glory 
of the sword of Liberty as it emerges from its scabbard! With what 
exultation does he see Old Glory straining in the rising gale! The 
lover of liberty rejoices in the war, for he knows that the sword will 
not be drawn in vain; that every passing hour now shortens the life 
of the power that sought to drive liberty from the world. 



[18] 



Wednesday, April 11, 1917 
Give Us Compulsory Service 

THIS giant nation, possessing the strength necessary to crush any 
enemy that may come up against it, is about to be put to the 
test to see whether it can and will organize and exert that 
strength. 

The hour is here when Congress must decide whether or not the 
American democracy shall be effective in the supreme trial. 

Under old conditions, before the beginning of this war, it would 
have been absurd to draft men into the United States army. There 
were more volunteers available than could be used to meet any 
emergency. 

All the old conditions have been changed. Modern war is entirely 
different from the wars of the nineteenth century. Nowadays a 
nation must organize itself from top to bottom, from the chopper and 
plowman to the commanders on land and sea. The war is fought on 
the farms, in the kitchens, in the banks, on the railroads, and in the 
factories. 

A man misplaced in his duties is a man lost. A dollar misspent 
might as well be presented to the enemy. 

The volunteer system is inapplicable to the emergency that con- 
fronts the United States. It might be satisfactory if the United States 
were going to war with Greece or Siam, but it will not meet the needs 
of war against Germany and her allies. 

The volunteer system takes men into the ranks who should not 
be there. It effectually shields the slacker, who should be there. 

Thousands of young men belonging to the national guard are 
capable of more effective service outside of the ranks than in them. 
They volunteered in a spirit of patriotism, but they never thought 
of the fact that war must be fought just as thoroughly in the factory 
as in the trenches. 

Many young men in the bureau of standards, possessing technical 
training and ability of a high order, are liable to military service in 
the national guard. The inestimable service they could render in 
their specialty would be lost to the nation if they should be called 
to the ranks. There are thousands of such men throughout the 
country. If volunteers were called for, tens of thousands of others 

[191 



GIVE US COMPULSORY SERVICE 

would step forward, leaving places vacant which could not be easily- 
filled. 

The experience of Great Britain is a flaming warning to the 
United States against adopting the volunteer system. That system 
tends to disarrange and demoralize industry, transportation, and 
agriculture, the very foundations of effective modern warfare. It 
puts a premium on slackers, cowards, and other pacifists. 

Great Britain was forced to take tens of thousands of volunteers 
out of the army and return them to the work for which they were 
fitted. Then it was forced to reach out for the slackers and put them 
in the army, where they belonged. The process took two years, 
during which the British empire was unable to exert its full 
strength in war. Consequently there were blunders and costly 
reverses, unnecessary increases of debt, and constant danger of defeat. 

If Great Britain had adopted the draft system at the beginning 
of the war, Germany would now be out of France, if not utterly 
defeated. Tens of thousands of lives would have been saved. 

There is an element in Congress which opposes the draft system, 
in obedience to the old superstition that it implies "militarism," or is 
contrary to the spirit of free democracy. One of the congressmen 
asks, "Why not try the volunteer system, and then resort to drafting 
a few months hence if the volunteer system fails to work?" This 
is equivalent to asking, Why not go through the motions of war, and 
then get down to business a few months hence if Germany refuses 
to surrender? 

Who wants to be responsible for the waste of the lives of 
American boys during the period of ineffective warfare? Do the 
opponents of the draft realize that they would unnecessarily condemn 
Americans to death? 

The draft system is not contrary to the spirit of democracy. It 
is in harmony with it. It destroys distinctions between rich and poor. 
It insures efficiency in war, both at the front and at home. It guards 
against the waste of life. It utilizes special training, whether it be 
on the farm, in the shop, or on the railroad. It forces cowards to do 
their share. It takes excessive burdens from the backs of eager 
patriots and places a share upon the backs of slackers. It takes care 
that families shall not be left destitute while brave fathers are doing 
the work that unmarried slackers should do. 

The best service that Congress can perform for liberty and democ- 
racy is to enact the universal compulsory service bill. 

[20] 



Monday, April 16, 1917 
The One Great Seed 

ONE great, outstanding, stubborn fact confronts the United 
States on the opening of this new and momentous chapter of 
its history; and this fact demands the courageous and prr, m pt 
performance of an inescapable duty. 

This fact is that the United States has no army, ^ n the modern 
sense, and cannot raise an adequate and efficient army by the volun- 
teer system. The plain duty of Congress arising from this fact is 
to enact the selective draft bill forthwith. 

Tens of thousands of Americans believe there will be no occasion 
to send an army abroad. They believe the war will end in our favor 
before an army could be raised and drilled. 

But that is what the people of Great Britain believed. They 
thought the sending of a few men to Antwerp would save that port. 
They counted upon the easy taking of Constantinople. They believed 
that 500.000 men would be al. 1 that could possibly be used to advan- 
tage. 

Some men in Congres, firmly believe that volunteers will come 
forward by the million wtun called for, and that they can be promptly 
trained. What basis is tiere for this confidence? What fact justifies 
the assertion that a vounteer army of 1.000.000 men can be raised 
and trained in one ye?.? 

The experience c. this country in former wars, and the expe- 
rience of Great Britan in this war, point to a different conclusion. 
The volunteer systen is unreliable. Able-bodied men, good material 
for soldiers, take pins to escape military sen-ice. Men who are 
needed in industry are apt to enlist, and thus impair rather than 
strengthen the natbnal defense. 

The best serv:e a national legislator can perform for his country 
at this time is to study this matter carefully, setting aside old preju- 
dices and takinginto account the situation as it exists. Leadership 
is needed. Conress must act in behalf of the people. The public 
approval of univrsal service is apparent, but this wish of the majority 
cannot be madeeffectual unless Congress acts. 

No man sould assume that this war will end in a few months 
by the triump of the allies, without participation by a trained 

[21] 



J 



THE ONE GREAT NEED 



American force. That assumption, if it should cause the defeat of 
the universal service bill, might lead to the greatest disaster in the 
history of the world. Hundreds of thousands of American lives might 
be included in the awful price paid for such a blunder. The nation 
might awake a year from now to the stern necessity of defending its 
ijfe against a foe made still more arrogant by victories and still more 
powerful by having gained access to our coasts. 

'ffei only safe course to pursue is the one that will forestall the 
worst possible outcome of current operations. The most dangerous 
fallacy is that w~hich underestimates the strength and resources of the 
enemy and falls into the fatal error of assuming an easy victory. 

Now that the United States is at war, it must win. It is not in 
the blood of Americans to accept defeat or partial victory. The 
strength and power of the United States must be organized for early 
and overwhelming victory. The enemy cares nothing for "potential" 
resources, and he is now calculating upon the United States making a 
blunder by clinging to the volunteer system. If this country will only 
make that blunder, German militarism will take heart and prolong 
the war at least a year, with reasonable hope of defeating its foes. 

Congress is doing splendidly when it provides for all the money 
that may be needed by the United State;: and its allies. Now let it 
rise to this unprecedented occasion by providing for all the men that 
may be needed to smash the German systen\ 

That is the safe plan. That is the only t;ue road to peace. 



[22 1 



Thursday, April 19, 1917 
America's Opportunity 

THE gigantic stage of the world presents now a succession of 
majestic scenes in which nations are actors, whose slightest acts 
are history, and whose tremendous conflict draws to a catas- 
trophe which will affect if not determine the future of mankind for 
a thousand years. The spectators of this drama need not look back- 
ward for the inspiration of fateful epochs, or forward toward a phan- 
tom future. This present year 1917 is unrolling events before our 
very eyes as momentous, as charged with fate as any that have been 
or could be produced by human agencies. We who hear the drums 
and tramplings of millions, who see heroic figures rise and fall, who 
feel the quakings as the world readjusts itself, are held spellbound 
by the portent and majesty of the time. 

Behind the scenes are energies equally potent for good and evil, 
unleashed and feverishly at work. The armies and navies are in view, 
but the secret influences that move and countermove are not before 
us. There are two battle grounds, one terrible to the sight, and 
another where fate is weaving an invisible web. Who knows what is 
going on in Russia? What of the plotting by Germany to win peace 
in the east by a cunning admixture of bribery, seduction and intimida- 
tion? What of the growing discord between Germany and Austria? 
What is Germany doing among the nations against the United States? 
What plots and plans and maneuvers are under way, aimed at the 
consummation of combinations which will give Germany an advan- 
tage on the open stage of war? 

Great Britain and France are doing gloriously. They are deliver- 
ing staggering blows. But the blows are not mortal. Germany has 
at least 10,000,000 men under arms. The fighting on the western 
front, although on an unprecedented scale, may not decide the war. 
If strong thrusts had spelled success in this war, Germany would be 
permanent master of Belgium, France, Serbia and Roumania, and 
dictator of Austria, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. We all confidently 
believe that Germany is merely a temporary occupant of invaded 
territory; that some or all of her allies will leave her; that her own 
people will call a halt upon her headlong course toward destruction. 
But we do not know. 

The mistake that Americans should guard against is the assump- 
tion that the war will soon end by the triumph of the allies in the 

[23] 



AMERICA'S OPPORTUNITY 

west — that the end of the war is in sight. That assumption, if 
adopted here, would discourage preparation and thus prolong the 
war and increase its cost in blood. 

While the German autocracy is supreme, with 10,000,000 men 
in the field and pirates operating under sea, it is folly to assume that 
the end is near. Fate may have keen disappointments in store for 
those who fondly suppose that our allies are about to win the war. 
Russia may collapse into civil war, or the unscrupulous elements in 
its emergency government may betray it to Germany. The naval 
situation may change in the twinkling of an eye. The mailed fist may 
be suddenly reinforced by the release of armies in Poland or Rou- 
mania, or by the emergence of sea power. 

Now, in 1917, the hour has come for making sure of human 
liberty for all time. Fortunate is the American who can even par- 
tially apprehend the meaning of the pageant that unrolls before 
him! Happy is the American who realizes that the opportunity has 
come to him to participate in this sublime liberation! So many have 
eyes who cannot see; minds that cannot grasp the fact that America's 
glorious day is here, when the sons of liberty are called to administer 
the mortal blow to the enemy of mankind. 

No timid, halting, doubtful role will be played by this nation. 
There will be no half-hearted preparation for a limited war ending 
in questionable peace. Never! The manhood and womanhood of 
the nation are sending their mandate to Washington. They will not 
be deceived or denied. They demand the right to share in this war 
equally, each according to his ability. They demand an army drafted 
universally, of a size commensurate with the power of the nation. 
They are preparing now, in their minds and hearts and bodies, to be 
worthy of the opportunity that awaits them. They long for the 
moment when the United States will be cleared for action. They 
eagerly wait for the appearance of Old Glory in the midst of the 
smoke of battle on land and sea. Their hearts are fired in a holy 
cause; their feet are already keeping time to the drums; their bodies 
and souls are already dedicated to liberty. 

Open wide your eyes and hearts, men of Congress ! Grasp boldly 
and resolutely the levers that will turn loose the torrent of our 
powers! Make the way open for American hearts and hands to do 
their work! 



[24] 



Saturday, April 28, 1917 
Making Patriotism Efficient 

CONGRESS, holder of the sword and the purse, is about to 
deliver to the President of the United States the weapon that 
will give the finishing blow to the world's enemy. 

Congress has already opened the purse and started a million 
energies against Germany. Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy and 
Belgium are invigorated by this power, which instantly enlarges the 
scope and intensifies the force of their activity. Tens of thousands 
of hands, tens of thousands of wheels, tens of thousands of hammers 
are set upon the task of defeating Germany by the opening of Amer- 
ica's war-chest. 

But the mortal blow will be given by the sword of America, 
wielded with overwhelming might in the cause of liberty. 

The greatest organized brute force in the world having chal- 
lenged the right of democracy to live in liberty, the Congress of the 
United States will unloose the forces that guard our liberties. Irre- 
sistible might is about to range itself alongside eternal right. 

The fatal mistake made by autocracy is in believing that democ- 
racy is unable to organize brute force. Relying upon brute force 
itself, and enabled by despotic rule to drive men into armies, autocracy 
cannot believe that free men will voluntarily unite and organize to 
exert force in their own defense. Autocracy cannot conceive of the 
immortal energy that inspires liberty any more than it can conceive 
of liberty itself. This energy, in time of outrage and danger, trans- 
forms Liberty into an avenging goddess, whose flaming sword rushes 
into the vitals of her assailant. Autocracy and despotism sign their 
death warrant when they attack this latent force. Germany's mili- 
tarism committed suicide when it drew down upon itself the wrath 
of the spirit that made this a free nation. 

Universal service, selective draft, conscription — what have 
Americans done already, except to dedicate themselves unanimously 
to the triumph of America? The mandate has already gone forth. 
The act of Congress will merely make patriotism efficient. It will 
merely organize democracy; merely insure individual effectiveness; 
merely avoid confusion of effort. It will tear the blindfold from 
Liberty's eyes and place a sharp sword in her hand. This is not a 
question of volunteering. Every American of every age is already a 

[25] 



MAKING PATRIOTISM EFFICIENT 

volunteer. Congress and the President will use each volunteer for 
the service he can best perform. 

The vote in Congress will be worth a hundred battles in its 
crushing effect upon those who fancied that democracy and liberty 
were incapable of systematizing force. It will be as inspiring as a 
dozen victories on the field to the struggling heroes of France. At 
the moment the word goes forth that the United States is selecting 
the first of its willing millions, the war will be decided. The world 
will have been made safe for democracy. 



[26] 



Monday, April SO, 1917 

Arming the Executive 

THE power of the United States government to organize for war 
is unlimited by the Constitution. As the maintenance of the 
United States was the prime object of the people in adopting 
the Constitution, it was wisely decided that no limitation whatever 
should be placed upon the power of the government to make war. 
The authors of the Federalist emphasized the fact that no human 
foresight could provide against all dangers that might threaten the 
nation, and hence they explained that the government must neces- 
sarily be left unhampered to meet and master any danger from 
without or within. 

Congress may constitutionally do anything necessary to preserve 
this Union. All rights granted by the Constitution are subordinate 
to the supreme right of this nation to maintain its independence 
and its life. 

The hour is at hand when Congress must enact far-reaching 
laws organizing this nation on a war basis. This fact is only dimly 
seen as yet by many legislators, but they will see it clearly when the 
President finds himself unable to concentrate effectively the enormous 
powers that are his as Commander-in-Chief. His executive organi- 
zation at present is intended for peace purposes, with the exception 
of a skeleton force in the war and navy departments. The whole 
organization must be remodeled for the purpose of carrying on suc- 
cessful war. 

Congress has taken preliminary steps by opening the purse and 
authorizing the creation of an army. But these are only parts of 
the great war organization that must be developed. Money is useless 
if it will not buy what is necessary, and an army cannot fight without 
transportation, equipment and food. 

All European nations except Germany discovered, after loss of 
valuable time, that their peace organizations had to be remodeled 
and adapted to war needs. Their executives, whether emperors, 
kings or prime ministers, were unable to assemble equipment, food and 
shipping as needed. New executive agencies had to be evolved. In 
the meantime there was endless confusion, waste of money, useless 
loss of life, and utter inability to wage successful war. When the 
new agencies were developed there was an immediate turn toward 
efficiency, and now the nations are able to deliver telling blows. 

[27] 



ARMING THE EXECUTIVE 

In every nation there is a central control of transportation, 
including shipping. There is control of the food supply. There is 
control of the production of war supplies. 

In the United States there is no central control of transportation 
or shipping; no control of the production, distribution, or price of 
food; and no control of the price, production, or distribution of 
war supplies. 

In 1916 Congress created the Council of National Defense, with 
an advisory board of civilians attached, serving without pay and 
possessing no authority. The council itself consists of six members 
of the President's cabinet. Neither the State nor the Treasury De- 
partment is represented in the council. The council has done valuable 
work in gathering information, but its powers are ridiculously inade- 
quate, and logically it has no excuse for existence. 

The national defense necessarily depends upon the President. 
He is the executive arm of the nation, the enforcer of the laws and 
the commander of the army and navy. He cannot transfer his 
responsibilities to any council of national defense, nor can Congress 
empower any other person or agency to perform the duty imposed 
upon him. The heads of the executive departments created by Con- 
gress are the logical and necessary council of national defense, and no 
one of them may be safely excluded from the council. 

The question soon to confront Congress is the creation of new 
executive departments to carry on work for which there is now 
either very inadequate machinery, or conflicting machinery, or no 
machinery at all. 

There must be one control of transportation and shipping, either 
in one of the present executive departments or in a new one. 

There must be one control of food, either in an existing executive 
department or in a new one. 

There must be one control of munitions of war, either in an 
existing executive department or in a new one. 

As all the existing executive departments are overloaded with 
work, and as the control of transportation, food and munitions calls 
for immense organizations if the nation is to wage war successfully, 
it appears probable that three new executive departments will be 
created by Congress. 

Valuable time no doubt will be lost before Congress equips the 
Executive for war. But the work will be done. The American people 
will take the steps necessary to win this war. 

[28] 



Sunday, May 6, 1917 

Congress Must Organize the War Power 

IT WAS quite natural that the declaration of war should be fol- 
lowed by a season of intense excitement, and that Washington 

should become the rallying-ground of unduly heated Americans, 
each with a sublime inspiration compelling him to divulge a plan for 
the immediate winning of the war. There are as many plans as there 
are superheated patriots. Whether the plan contemplates the nation- 
wide conservation of melon-rinds, under penalty of death, or the 
secret introduction into Germany of an army of chinch bugs and 
cabbage worms, or the abolition of the Constitution, the originator 
believes that the salvation of democracy depends "upon its adoption 
and the rejection of every other plan. 

One of the favorite proposals of the multitude who have no 
individual panacea is to dump everything upon the shoulders of the 
President. Don't hesitate; don't discriminate; don't be stingy. Give 
the President all-embracing and despotic power over the life, liberty 
and property of everybody, and then call upon him to smash Germany. 

Unfortunately there are men in Congress who share this view. 

The United States is suddenly called upon to organize for war. 
Its government is organized for peace — not too well organized at that 
— and the task of transforming the peace machine into a war machine 
is complex and arduous. Is Congress to shrink from the task on 
that account? Is it to shirk its duty in the crisis? 

There is not the slightest occasion for Congress to lose its head. 
It is still the master power of the government, which in the extremity 
will control the national forces in response to the people's will. It 
will direct the President to execute the laws it makes, and he will 
obey. He will conduct the war as Congress directs, with the money 
it furnishes and the armies and fleets it provides. 

Senator Hoke Smith aptly describes the present tendency in 
Congress when he said: "Suppose I should present a joint resolu- 
tion declaring that 'Whereas a condition of war exists, and whereas 
it is important that Congress should adjourn and go home; therefore 
be it resolved, that whenever the President finds the public safety so 
requires he is hereby authorized to suspend any existing law and 
enact any new one that he sees fit.' I would hesitate about voting for 
such a joint resolution, but I would not feel that in failing to support 
it I was lacking in confidence in the President or in admiration for 

[29] 



CONGRESS MUST ORGANIZE THE WAR POWER 

him. To object to loading him with responsibilities that belong to us 
is no reflection upon him." 

If the President should seek to unload upon Congress the task 
of conducting the diplomatic, military and naval operations of the 
government at this time he would be doing what some unthinking 
members of Congress are doing with reference to their duties. 

This war will not be won by the creation of commissions and 
boards. Efficiency will not be gained by grafting upon the peace 
organism of the government a miscellaneous jumble of war powers. 
The appointment of honorary advisory commissions to assemble the 
boy-power of the nation, to conserve the tin cans of the nation, and 
to mobilize the butchers, bakers and candlestick-makers in war pha- 
lanxes has already reached the point of absurdity. 

Necessity demands that Congress shall organize this government 
for war. The work must be done thoroughly. The President gave 
Congress a strong hint when he suggested that the chief duty of the 
hour was to make the unorganized strength of the nation effective by 
careful organization, in which there would be no overlapping or 
duplication of effort and no failure to attend to necessary matters. 
No one can organize the nation for war except the law-making power, 
and no one can conduct the war except the executive. 

Already, since April 6, much has been done that must be undone. 
Loosely drawn laws are going on the statute books, conferring unde- 
fined powers upon persons yet unknown. Identical powers are exer- 
cised by different authorities. Executive departments are duplicating 
efforts ana aiming at the same object by conflicting methods. Trans- 
portation, for example, is in many different hands. Munitions is in 
still more hands, and the government is likely to bid against itself, as 
England did. The preposterous demand is made for the creation of 
a separate department of aviation, as if every weapon of war should 
be under control of a separate authority. 

The need of broad creative work by Congress is evident. The 
Constitution was purposely left silent as to the extent or nature of 
the power to be exercised by Congress in the national defense. The 
founders reasoned that no bounds could be set upon the nature or 
scope of the dangers that might confront the nation, and therefore no 
bounds were set upon the power of the government to cope with these 
dangers. Now that a gigantic assault has been made upon the nation 
for the purpose of destroying its liberty, Congress faces the duty of 
organizing the nation for war. It cannot perform this duty by 
attempting to grant authority to the executive to make laws. 

[30] 



Wednesday, May 16, 1917 

Food Control a War Necessity 

THE food crisis in the United States calls for the prompt exercise 
of the national authority. The food control now exercised by 
conspirators must be taken over by the government. The 
unorganized people are mere plundered victims of conspiracy and 
greed. They cannot protect themselves. The government must act 
for them. 

Before the war began prices had been mounting, and immediately 
after the declaration of war the food pirates began a fresh campaign 
which for thoroughness and ruthlessness puts submarine pirates to 
blush. 

There is no necessity for the high prices that prevail. The evil 
condition exists by consent of Congress. It can be swept aside in 
a week. 

Government control of food is made necessary by the war. In 
taking control the government will checkmate the conspirators who 
are now taxing millions out of the people's pockets, but even if there 
were no conspirators there would have to be government control. 
Food is munitions of war for the United States and its allies. It is as 
necessary for the government to control food as it is to control ships 
and the army. 

If the relief of the people from criminal exploitation were the 
only consideration Congress could properly refer the matter to the 
existing departments of the government after enacting a law to 
punish price fixers and other food conspirators. But an even greater 
factor is involved, and it calls for the creation of a new and powerful 
machine as a weapon of war. 

Without government control of food the war could not be fought 
successfully. The allies would not be able to fight so effectively. The 
exports would go forth without system, and shipping arrangements 
would be demoralized, thus hampering both the army and the navy. 
Railroad operation in the United States would be made ineffective by 
the choking of traffic. The congestion at terminals would cause food 
scarcity in many cities, while food would be rotting in huge quantities 
in other places. Individual enterprise, unsupervised, would make 
havoc of the government's war plans and operations. 

[31] 



FOOD CONTROL A WAR NECESSITY 

Government control of food is one of the distinct tasks of the 
United States as a belligerent. The United States must direct the 
distribution of food. The enemy must not get any of it. Neutrals 
must await the necessities of our allies. Neutrals that lean toward 
Germany and which might surreptitiously give or sell food to her must 
be cut off. This nation might as well ship guns to Germany as to 
permit food to reach her. 

This necessary control of food is a war power, apart from any 
duty that is performed by any department of the government in time 
of peace. Individual control of wheat is unthinkable if the United 
States intends to be effective in war. Speculators could corner the 
market in airplanes and battleships with less damage than would 
be caused by a corner in wheat. They would be no more traitorous 
in one case than in the other. 

Discussions in Congress indicate that the necessity of creating 
distinct executive machinery to carry on the war is now better under- 
stood and admitted. When Congress goes a step further and realizes 
that the blood of American youth will be saved by bold, outright 
arming of the nation as it should be armed there will come into 
existence such mighty engines as a department of munitions, a depart- 
ment of food administration and a department of transportation. 



[32] 



Monday, June 4., 1917 
Right and Might, the "Weapons of Liberty 

THIS DAY will be forever memorable in the history of democracy. 
It celebrates the decision of a mighty nation, devoted to peace, 
to place the weapon of death in the hands of every citizen, if 
need be, to defend its liberty. Ten millions of these citizens, of mili- 
tary age, will enroll their names today. This - - 1 :11 of 
honor at home, and an evidence to the world that government by 
the people was not born to perish. 

The armies of Americans about to be organized will - ...rge 

as necessary. The numbers have not been determined. They will 
be determined partly by the enemy. Germany will share in the deci- 
sion as to the size and strength of the American forces. But the 
forces will be sufficient. 

When the United States entered into this war it did not go u 
a loser. There can be only one result, now that Liberty and Abso- 
lutism are face to face. Absolutism will die. 

No American should or can speak in a boastful spirit when he 
declares from his heart that America will win this war. It is v.. 
the glorification of America that the sword is drawn. Americans are 
not dazzled by the glint of helmets or misled by the pomp and circum- 
stance of war. They enter into it because of necessity, and for one 
purpose only. "When Absolutism has been struck down and Liberty 
is triumphant. Americans will return to their daily tasks as promptly 
as they now take up the sword. They will not return until the 
is finished. 

The world is in convulsions as a result of Germany's assault upon 
mankind. Russia and China are rocking with anarchy ; the belliger- 
ents are bleeding; the neutrals are beginning to starve. Conditions 
will be worse before they are better. The neutrals who escape war will 
suffer even more than they would if they should go to war. But the 
tumult does not mean that tyranny is gaining control oi humanity. 
It indicates, rather, that mankind is clubbing and hacking and blun- 
dering toward liberty. Every convulsion is a birth-pang of freedom. 
If man were endowed with divine wisdom he would not need tc 
into bloody struggles in order to attain his own liberty and concede 
liberty to his neighbor. Being what he is. and stirred as he is by 
the unquenchable thirst for freedom, he goes through blood to get it. 



RIGHT AND MIGHT, THE WEAPONS OF LIBERTY 

Perhaps more than half of the disorder in Russia and China is due 
to misunderstanding among men who are striving for the same thing, 
and who would clasp hands and march all one way if they understood. 

So far as America is concerned, however, the cause of the tumult 
is not obscure. It is nakedly clear. It is the attack made by Ger- 
many upon the sovereignty, independence and liberty of America 
that compels America to fight. The world's confusion does not 
confuse Americans as to the issue, nor does the universal turmoil 
deter America one instant in taking up the sword to set Germany 
right. Russia and China may stagger like drunken men, but America 
will go forward to its goal. Neutrals may fight Germany or not, as 
their interests dictate, but from the hour that Germany struck at 
America the result of the war was foreordained. 

Late or soon, the war will end when the German system crashes 
into ruins under the blows of a nation that is armed with both Right 
and Might. 



[34] 



Thursday, June 7, 1917 

The Greater Army of Liberty 

IN SHARP contrast with the declaration of the self-appointed spokes- 
men of Russia, France declares that peace must be accompanied 
by the restoration of Alsace and Lorraine, reparation for dam- 
ages done and the giving of effective guaranties for the safety of 
small nations. 

The United States stands with France. It will never countenance 
a pusillanimous peace. Having taken up the sword for liberty, it will 
make liberty secure before it sheathes the sword. 

The great allies stand where they stood in January, when they 
outlined their terms. The defection of Russia does not change these 
terms. 

So long as Germany is capable of making war on the world there 
will be no justice to outraged nations, and no peace. Therefore, 
Germany must be defeated. 

The war can end now only by the defeat of Germany or the defeat 
of the United States and its allies. 

Other nations will probably become involved. The world is 
unable to extricate itself from its difficulties without a decisive war. 
It is best that all neutral nations should line up with civilization in 
a single decisive combat with the powers of evil. The only route to 
peace and justice to all lies through war. 

Russia a stable republic; France, Belgium, Serbia, Montenegro 
and Roumania restored and rehabilitated; Italy's lost territory recov- 
ered; Turkey thrust out of Europe and the Holy Land; Holland, 
Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland protected against Ger- 
man invasion; America and the western hemisphere made safe for- 
ever — all these ends must and will be achieved by civilization in the 
crushing of German militarism. 

Germany obtained a long start by organizing the whole nation 
for war. Thanks to Belgium and France and England, the aims of 
Germany were thwarted. The allies gradually overhauled Germany 
in man-power and equipment. Russia fell out, but the United States 
came in. Now the obvious duty is to so organize the latest and 
potentially strongest belligerent that the preponderance of power will 
overwhelm Germany. 

[35] 



THE GREATER ARMY OF LIBERTY 

Germany will know when to make peace. The kaiser's brute- 
force experts will know when they are overpowered. 

All the organizing skill in the United States is needed to make 
this nation effective in war. The nation as a whole must concentrate 
its force in one mighty hammer. The army about to be drafted is 
only a part of the fighting machine. For 40 years Germany has 
employed its millions of people as a unit, all of them engaged in the 
single task of grinding a sharp sword. The German people now, 
men, women and children, are voluntarily or compulsorily grinding 
the German sword. 

Americans must not expect the army alone to defeat Germany. 
Those who are not in the ranks are as indispensable as the young 
men who registered Tuesday. All must belong to the greater army 
of liberty, which includes every man, woman and child under the 
flag. Under the government, each person must be at war according 
to his strength. By frugality, by loyalty in heart and discretion in 
action, by watchfulness, by industry, by obedience to authority, by 
readiness to cooperate, individual Americans can arm the United 
States with irresistible strength. No one else can do it. The govern- 
ment alone cannot do it. 

Away with politics, partisanship, personal rivalry and grasping 
for power or profit! Let every man search his heart, and clean out 
of it everything but devotion to the United States ! 



[36] 



Wednesday, June 13, 1917 

Why America Fights for Others 

THE note of the British government to the provisional govern- 
ment of Russia heartily accepts President Wilson's definition 
of the aims of the allies. The British aims are thus stated: 

"They did not enter the war as a war of conquest; they are not 
continuing it for such object. Their purpose at the outset was to 
defend the existence of their country and enforce respect for interna- 
tional engagements. To those objects have now been added that of 
liberating populations oppressed by alien tyranny." 

Some Americans are disposed to criticize that portion of the 
allies' war aims which proposes to liberate oppressed populations, on 
the ground that it is an unnecessary excursion into altruism. "Why 
seek to regenerate the world?" they ask. "Why should the United 
States participate in a war for world democracy?" 

The answer is that this war will not bring conclusive peace unless 
oppressed populations are liberated. The world is fighting for liberty 
and will have it. If Germany should succeed in dominating neigh- 
boring populations another war would follow this war, perhaps even 
bloodier and with darker outlook for the United States. 

The safety of human liberty depends upon the defeat of Ger- 
many. With Germany defeated the liberation of oppressed peoples 
will follow inevitably. Poland, both that portion formerly oppressed 
by Russia and that oppressed by Germany, will become free. The 
Balkan states will align themselves according to racial sympathies. 
The Armenians and Syrians will throw off the yoke of Turkey. 
Serbia, Montenegro and Belgium will recover their national integrity. 
Albania will become an autonomous nation. 

Nothing now prevents the orderly rearrangement of national 
boundaries and the safe establishment of free governments except 
the ambition of the German war makers. With Germany beaten the 
great allies can proceed with the work of liberation and no human 
power can stop them. Turkey will be put out of Europe and Pales- 
tine, and its power to tyrannize over Armenia and Arabia will be 
destroyed. The Arabians, in fact, have already achieved their inde- 
pendence. 

The German argument against the liberation of small nations is 
that Great Britain does not liberate Ireland, Egypt or India. Count 

[37] 



WHY AMERICA FIGHTS FOR OTHERS 

von Bernstorff even went so far as to suggest that Canada was 
enslaved, and that it was the duty of the United States to liberate it, 
with Germany's generous help. The reply to the German argument is 
that Ireland's fate is in her own hands; Egypt has been taken from 
the rule of the Turk and placed on the road to self-government; 
India is a loyal part of the British empire, and Canada's voluntary 
aid to England speaks for itself. 

If Germany had exercised any degree of the wisdom displayed 
by England in granting self-government to her colonies the war might 
have had a different aspect. But German brutalism was as marked 
in the German colonies as at home. The state was all, the man 
nothing but a tool of kaiserism. 

It is not in mere quixotism that the United States joins the civil- 
ized nations in fighting for the liberation of oppressed populations, it 
is because there can be no peace on earth until this is accomplished. 
This nation does not want a war every five or ten years. It has 
found that it cannot maintain its own independence and national 
rights when there is widespread war. Therefore it has determined, 
with its allies, to make this a finish fight, to beat to death the world's 
enemy, and then to assist in a rearrangement of boundaries which will 
make other wars improbable, if not impossible. 



[38 



Friday, June 15, 1917 
The Fated House of Hohenzollern 

PRESIDENT WILSON'S address of yesterday clearly exposes the 
reasons why Germany is now intriguing for peace. Having 
executed part of the plan for the conquest and consolidation of 
a central European empire extending from the North Sea to Asia 
Minor, and having possession of valuable trading material in France, 
Belgium and Poland, Germany finds its dreams of world domination 
shattered, new enemies rising, domestic discontent and its resources 
diminishing. The German war lords know better than any one else 
that their fortunes are on the ebb. They would make peace while 
there is something remaining to their advantage. 

The world has passed the point where it was compelled to give 
ground to German militarism. The gains made by Germany are 
plainly attributable to the fact that the world was taken unawares 
by the combined strength and barbarity of Germany. Humanity was 
not aware that a murderer nation was plotting against its life. Men 
fondly supposed that civilization had advanced beyond the age of 
the deliberate assassination of nations. William II posed as a patron 
of the arts, boasted of progress in peace, and concealed his real nature 
so craftily that the world did not suspect that he was a throwback 
to the age of barbarism. He and his associated assassins were able 
to build up a murder machine of colossal proportions, and within a 
month after the completion of the Kiel canal the machine was set 
in motion. Franz Josef was the tool through which the trap was 
sprung, and Serbia was to be the first victim. If the great powers 
had not taken alarm William II would have dominated the world. 

Russia, France and Great Britain called a halt. Belgium sacri- 
ficed herself rather than become a tool of Germany. Italy repudi- 
ated the German murder-plot. From that moment the German war 
lords have fought like wild beasts within a steadily closing ring of 
enemies. Fear, and nothing else, has kept Austria-Hungary and 
Turkey subject to Berlin. Through Count Tarnowski at Sofia and 
Queen Sophia at Athens the Germans succeeded in bribing Bulgaria 
and Greece while they overran Serbia, Montenegro and Roumania. 

The revolution in Russia has been seized upon by Germany in 
the hope of seducing Russia into making separate peace and thus 
weakening the allies. Fortunately this last hope of the Hohenzollerns 

[39] 



THE FATED HOUSE OF HOHENZOLLERN 

is made futile by the sturdy patriotism and good sense of the Russian 
people. 

In the meantime the murmurs of the sorely driven German 
people are rising to the throne, and William II strives by falsehoods, 
concealment and vain boastings to delude his own victims. His 
agents magnify the airplane murders in London into great triumphs; 
they say, "Give us two months more of submarine destruction and 
England will quit." As President Wilson well says, "It is their 
power at home they are thinking about now more than their power 
abroad. It is that power which is trembling under their very feet, 
and deep fear has entered their hearts." 

William II may try to conceal from his people the news of Con- 
stantine's overthrow; of the arrival of Pershing in France, preceding 
the coming of a new and resourceful enemy; of the strengthening of 
Russia by America and the other allies; of the losing struggle of Von 
Hindenburg, beaten to his knees by the superior British artillery; 
but he cannot conceal from the Germans their own famine, their 
bankruptcy, their frightful losses of fathers, brothers and sons in 
a losing war. 

Among Germany's allies there is hatred mingled with fear, and 
a growing resolve to stop further sacrifices to an arrogant and brutal 
master. Among Germans the inevitable revolt is foreshadowed in 
sullenness at home and increasing surrenders at the front. The mad 
conspirators who are driving Germany to ruin may intrigue and plot 
as they will, but they cannot avert their doom. The world has 
finally armed itself and is moving upon them with inexorable might. 
German hearts are breaking under unendurable sorrows, penury and 
famine. The madmen are driving human nature too far. Rather 
than die it will revolt. 

A few months longer, as the war is going, and the overdriven 
German people will join civilization in the overthrow of William II 
and the plotters who have sought by the murder of free nations to 
aggrandize the fated house of Hohenzollern. 



[40] 



Wednesday, June 20, 1917 
Our First Duty Is to Win the War 

THE United States is in a life and death struggle with Germany. 
Germany must either be defeated or it will dominate the 
United States. Americans have determined that there shall be 
war until Germany has been defeated. 

The length and cost of the war are relatively unimportant. It 
is the outcome of the war that is important. 

The chief business of the United States is to defeat Germany. 
Everything else is of minor importance. 

The war is a business so long as it lasts. Since no one can fore- 
tell how long it will last, and since Americans will not stop until 
victory has been won, the United States to all intents and purposes is 
engaged permanently in the business of defeating Germany. 

No effort, no expenditure, no plan that will contribute essentially 
to the defeat of Germany should be rejected merely because it is 
novel, or because it would consume time or money. 

Since the chief business of the United States is to defeat Ger- 
many, why is the government operated on a system which makes the 
war a side issue? Why does not the United States organize efficiently 
for the execution of its chief business? Why does the United States 
close its eyes to the experience of its allies? 

At the beginning of the war France tried to conduct army and 
munitions operations under the War Department and failed. Great 
Britain made the same attempt and failed. Both governments have 
been forced to create ministries of munitions. Even Germany, after 
the battle of the Somme, was compelled to create the equivalent of a 
department of munitions. 

The battle of the Marne ceased because both sides ran out of 
munitions. The world did not produce munitions sufficient to supply 
the armies, which burned up supplies that had been accumulating 
for years. 

The so-called Council of National Defense of the United States 
was created before the war. Its sole purpose, according to law, is to 
make investigations. It has no executive powers. 

The only council of national defense that can be effective in this 
country is the President and his cabinet, constituting the executive. 

[41] 



OUR FIRST DUTY IS TO WIN THE WAR 

The executive is responsible for the conduct of the war. The execu- 
tive power in Germany, France, Great Britain and every other nation 
constitutes the council of national defense. The government, in short, 
is its own council of defense and it cannot delegate this function to 
any other body. 

The executive in this government is equipped for peace, but not 
for war. Thus far Congress has pursued the plan of making the war 
a side issue of peace. It has not equipped the executive with war- 
making departments, but has subordinated war needs to the existing 
system of executive departments. Even when it has created a war 
agency, such as the shipping board, it has not conferred adequate 
powers and has not made it a part of the executive government. It 
is now considering a food administration bill, which is not made 
a part of the true council of national defense, as it should be. 

The so-called Council of National Defense is composed of able 
and patriotic men, acting as volunteers. There being no other ma- 
chinery, the council is trying to fill the gap. Not having any execu- 
tive powers, but striving to make the nation effective, it runs counter 
to Congress, and the Senate commands it not to exceed the limited 
powers conferred upon it. This council is not connected with the 
Treasury, which must furnish the sinews of war, nor with the State 
Department, which is charged with the conduct of foreign relations. 
Hence the council works in the dark on the most vital matters, and 
its suggestions are necessarily subject to revision by the real council 
of national defense, which is the President and his cabinet. 

If the President had in his cabinet a secretary of munitions, a 
secretary of food administration and a secretary of shipping or 
transportation the executive government of the United States would 
then constitute a real council of national defense, having at one table 
all the knowledge and authority now appearing to be necessary for 
the proper defense of the nation and the efficient conduct of the war. 
If other war-making departments should be needed they should be 
created. 

If Congress is in doubt as to the need of war-making departments, 
or as to their scope, it should study the experience of European na- 
tions. A legislative commission could be appointed to go to England 
and France and investigate the manner in which those nations have 
reconstructed their executive governments for the purpose of making 
successful war. 

It is more important that the United States should win this war 
than that Congress should cling to the established order of peace. 

[421 



Monday, June 25, 1917 

Shipping Should Be Controlled 
/\S SOON as possible the United States, Great Britain and France 
J^\ should take over control of the ocean freight rates of the world. 
By combining their facilities and exerting their powers they 
can regulate these rates. They can force them down to a reasonable 
figure — not the figure that prevailed before the war, but one much 
lower than that which now constitutes a crushing burden. 

The allies can also acquire much neutral shipping, either out- 
right or in the shape of cargo space and preferential voyages. In 
this matter they can work together much more effectively than if they 
were acting independently in dealing with neutrals. 

Odd as it may seem, the United States government has not yet 
assumed any control whatever over the protection of merchant ships 
against submarines. The shipowners arm their ships or not, as they 
please; some of them use antisubmarine devices and some do not; 
and all of them send their ships out from such ports and at such times 
as may be convenient to them, without regard to the interests of the 
government. As ships and cargoes are heavily insured, some ship- 
owners do not deem it necessary to protect their vessels. They take 
their chances. If the vessel is lost, they collect the insurance. If it 
gets through, they collect huge profits. 

This lack of system is working to the disadvantage of the govern- 
ment. The nation cannot afford to lose merchant shipping through 
the carelessness or cupidity of owners. These ships are an asset of 
the nation. If the government does not deem it wise to commandeer 
them, it should at least take steps to force owners to protect them 
as much as possible. 

The naval consulting board is said to have made great progress 
in perfecting antisubmarine devices, including a method of increasing 
the buoyancy of large merchant vessels so that they will float even if 
torpedoed. The government will adopt these devices on vessels built 
for government account. But why do not shipowners generally adopt 
them? Why does the government permit ships to leave these shores 
unequipped with guns, unfitted with buoyancy devices, and otherwise 
easy prey for submarines? 

The loss of strictly transatlantic shipping has been 10 per cent, 
through submarine attack. This waste can be checked in some 

[43] 



SHIPPING SHOULD BE CONTROLLED 

measure by prompt and effective regulation of shipping by the United 
States and Great Britain. Private owners ought to be compelled 
to equip and operate their vessels with some regard for national needs 
now and hereafter. The fact that the government provides extra war 
risk insurance seems to act as an agent of destruction, instead of 
promoting the growth of the merchant marine. If owners could not 
get insurance they would quickly fit their vessels with antisubmarine 
devices. With special equipment provided, owners ought to obtain 
insurance at a lower rate. Perhaps if the government would scale 
its insurance rates according to the degree of protection provided by 
the owners there might be an improvement, but apparently the only 
certain means of preserving merchant shipping against unnecessary 
submarine destruction is to assert rigid government regulation of 
methods of protection, methods of loading, times of sailing, and 
sailing routes. 

The United States and its allies are about to establish a com- 
mission to take control of food distribution. Is not control of ship- 
ping a necessary auxiliary of food distribution? Surely the allied 
governments will not perfect a system of food distribution, only to 
find themselves blocked and overcharged by unregulated and un- 
organized ocean shipping. The people of the United States would not 
look kindly upon heavy war taxes, reduced food supply and othe,r 
hardships, voluntary and involuntary, if shipowners were permitted 
to extort excessive rates for carrying this food and were also given 
insurance benefits on ships that could have been saved by using pro- 
tective equipment. Every ship lost must be replaced by a ship 
paid for by the people. 

Every shipowner is morally bound to prevent the loss of his ships 
if possible. The rights of the nation are paramount to his private 
rights. No shipowner has a right to charge excessive rates when 
manufacturers and others are held down to reasonable profits. The 
ocean freight rates now prevailing are scandalously high — so high 
as to become a ruinous tax upon the United States and its allies. 
Too much of the money loaned by the United States to Italy and 
other nations is finding its way into the pockets of private shipowners. 
The government concerned should immediately create an international 
shipping board with power to regulate rates and routes, to compel 
owners to provide protective devices, and to regulate marine insurance. 



[44] 



Thursday, July 19, 1917 

Germans and the Truth 

THE NEW German chancellor, Dr. Michaelis, confirms first reports 
to the effect that he was a colorless bureaucrat, a mere tool 
of the remorseless "system" that is hurrying Germany to 
destruction. Dr. Michaelis has gone through the form of conferring 
with the kaiser, the crown prince, Field Marshal Hindenburg and 
Gen. Ludendorff. What he really did was to take his instructions 
from them. The war lords have returned to the front, thoroughly 
assured that there will be no more trouble in Berlin. They are glad 
to be rid of Bethmann Hollweg, who tried to interpose some modera- 
tion in their program of blood and iron. 

Dr. Michaelis is to outline "his policies" — that is, the Hohenzol- 
lern-Hindenburg policies — to the reichstag today. That his words 
will belie his purposes goes without saying. The pan-German idea 
must be paramount. The kaiser and his lords still put their faith in 
guns and bombs and intrigue. They still regard the German people 
as food for powder. They are still hopeful of expanding their own 
power at the expense of German blood and iron. Therefore through 
their mouthpiece Michaelis they will hold out visions of glorious 
victory, of prostrate foes pouring billions at Germania's feet. It is 
poor food for bellies that are pinched, and poor consolation for those 
who have already contributed their menfolk to the holocaust. 

What is the absorptive limit of Germany in the matter of false- 
hoods? When will the point of saturation be reached? The allu- 
sions by Chancellor Michaelis to America, if he should make any, will 
perhaps furnish a guide for estimating the capacity of Germans to 
absorb ignorance and misinformation. It is plain that this distinct 
quality in Germans has prolonged the war and immensely increased 
its horrors. If they had had the ability accurately to gauge foreign 
feeling, if they had been able to distinguish fact from error in esti- 
mating their enemies' souls, they would not have indulged in the 
curiously naive diabolism which they believed would strike terror 
to the heart of civilized humanity. 

The air raids which destroy women and children, the savage 
boasts and menaces of the war lords, the hideous painting of Ger- 
man aircraft, the harebrained exploits of bomb-plotters in enemy 
countries, the empty pretense of carrying on commerce as usual — 

[47] 



GERMANS AND THE TRUTH 

these are all part and parcel of that impregnable German ignorance 
which distorts and discolors all impressions it receives from the out- 
side world. 

This mental condition is exactly like that of the redskins of 
America in the early days before they had gained knowledge of the 
white man. The redskins, fearing devils and the dark, painted their 
faces like devils and naturally hoped to scare their enemies to death. 
They whooped and howled as they danced in imitation of evil spirits. 
Gradually they learned that palefaces were not to be frightened, 
that "frightfulness" was mere childishness. The Germans will learn 
the same lesson in time, when they have reached the plane of intelli- 
gence attained by modern Indians. 

In the meantime it is not to be expected that the German people 
will gain a clear idea of the terrible forces that free nations are 
assembling against Germany. Deluded by their leaders, fed with 
nattering falsehoods, the German people cannot gain access to truth 
any more than they can obtain bread. Everything in the empire 
is now based on falsification and substitution. Lies take the place 
of truth exactly as painted paper takes the place of leather. All 
that the new chancellor can do is to add to the public stock of mis- 
information. He probably does not know much about America, but 
if he knew the truth he would not be permitted to tell it. He must 
substitute falsehoods. 

The truth must be literally shot into Germany. 



[48] 



Saturday, July 28, 1917 
War Aims and Peace Terms 

EVERY parliament in allied countries has been resounding the 
demands of excited statesmen, clamoring for a "statement of 
our war aims and our peace terms." It seems to be the con- 
viction of each speaker that if his government would only frame a 
proper formula, the enemy would promptly become a friend and 
peace would follow. 

So far as the United States is concerned, there is no necessity 
for any restatement of war aims or peace terms. Any man in the 
United States who is ignorant of the reason why the United States 
is at war should be ashamed of himself. He might not be conspic- 
uous in Russia, but he is offensively prominent here. What he needs 
is not more language, but another headpiece. 

There is no necessity for any of the allies to restate their war 
aims or peace terms. Words are superfluous. The best utterance on 
the subject of war and peace is that which issues from the black 
throats of the allies' guns on land and sea. 

The most stubborn and savage German can understand a bullet. 
His mental reaction to an 8-inch shell amidships is acute. The argu- 
ment conveyed by a well-placed bomb carries plausibility to his 
mind. He responds with alacrity also to suggestions of peace at the 
point of a bayonet wielded by a demon in kilts or khaki. 

Many a German, strangling in the tomb of a stricken submarine, 
has employed his last moment of intelligence in the thought that 
peace is best, after all. 

The shells that scatter the splinters of the German throne over 
a cratered wilderness will make the war aims and peace terms of 
the allies perfectly understood and acceptable. 

So long as William II lives and can order Germans into willing 
graves, he will not understand the allies' war aims or peace terms. 
No language can be framed which will mean the same thing to the 
intellect of the allies and the distorted intellect of Germany. 

Reason and counsel are not interchangeable between the allies 
and Germany now. Reason, true reason, rests in nitroglycerin 
and T. N. T. Logic, persuasion and concord are not found in lan- 
guage, but in the armored bowels of brute force as it tramples its 
way through skulls. 

[49] 



WAR AIMS AND PEACE TERMS 

The German crown prince plainly told the allies what kind of 
language to use in dealing with Germany when he described the 
submarines as the last argument of kings. Brute force! That is 
the language which Germany understands. 

Americans waste time when they talk of peace. There is no peace. 
It is a pity that the United States Senate must listen to peace talk 
for a single moment. Time is precious now ; it means conservation of 
American life if quickly utilized. Let Congress confine its remarks 
to the one word "Aye!" on bills appropriating billions for the national 
defense. 

The brute force latent in the United States is sufficient to 
hammer peace into Germany. Let us not discuss anything but the 
development of this brute force and its prompt service. 



[501 



Wednesday, August 1, 1917 
Seeking Out the Enemy 

MANY Americans who ought to know better cling to the argu- 
ment that it is unwise and unnecessary to send American 
troops abroad "to fight for others." They insist that the 
American troops are not in France to defend America, but to assist 
the allies in their fight with Germany. "If the United States should 
be invaded, then we should fight to the last man. But we have no 
business fighting in Europe." 

This kind of reasoning has appealed with great force to tens 
of thousands of Americans whose patriotism cannot be questioned. 
They would fight to the death in defense of the country, if it were 
attacked, but they do not understand why the United States army 
should be sent to Europe. 

The simple truth is that every American soldier sent to Europe 
is sent in defense of this country. The United States has been 
attacked just as effectively as if the kaiser's armies were bom- 
barding New York. There was an "invasion" of the United States 
when the German government insolently ordered American ships 
off the high seas. When the kaiser's agents set bounds to the sov- 
ereignty of the United States on the high seas, and murdered Amer- 
icans who dared to disobey the commands of the German government, 
the United States was invaded as truly and as dangerously as if the 
German army had entered the outskirts of Washington. 

It ,is for full sovereign rights as an independent nation that the 
United States fights. It is not merely to keep German soldiers off 
American soil. Sovereignty means more than the strength to repel 
invasion. It means the power to enforce respect and recognition of 
national right, anywhere in the world. 

When American soldiers are in Europe, organizing to move on 
Berlin, they are where they belong. They are defending the flag 
and moving forward to compel respect for its right to fly anywhere 
on the high seas. When America defends its flag and its rights it 
does not move backward. It moves toward the enemy's works. It 
never ceases to move forward until it takes the enemy's works and 
forces an unconditional surrender. 

It happens that other nations have been attacked by Germany 
and are moving to defeat her. The United States would fight whether 

[51] 



SEEKING OUT THE ENEMY 

they fought or not, but it is happy to fight by their side. The fight 
will be merrier and the enemy will be all the more soundly punished. 

Germany is not the enemy of the United States on the Atlantic 
Ocean only. She is an enemy wherever found, and it is the right and 
duty of America to hit her wherever she is vulnerable, either in 
Europe, Asia Minor or on the seas. The allies of Germany are the 
enemies of the United States. They should be declared such, and 
the United States should make war upon them. The defeat of Austria- 
Hungary and its complete emancipation from German rule would 
not only defeat Germany, but keep her defeated. 

It may be that the United States could aid the allies in striking a 
fearful blow at Germany through the Balkans. If so, the United 
States should not hesitate to act. Germany will compel Turkey to 
massacre Americans wherever military interests will be served. Ger- 
many is our enemy everywhere, at all times, through all agencies. The 
United States, representing self-government and liberty, is the shining 
target for every missile possessed by absolutism, represented by 
Germany. 

It is an irrepressible, world-wide conflict between liberty and her 
foes. American soldiers and sailors are at home wherever they can 
find the enemy. 



[52] 



Sunday, August 5, 1917 
Defeat Germany, Then Give Her Peace 

PREMIER LLOYD GEORGE has again placed the world under 
obligations by a speech that drives away all mists and leaves 
the issue between Germany and civilization sharp and clear. 
Among the half hysterical and socialistic demands for statements of 
"war aims," Mr. Lloyd George's position is wonderfully simple. His 
war aims, summed up in one word, are: Victory. Moreover, he 
sees victory ahead, and acutely notes that Germany sees it also. 
Germany can speak plainly the word "peace," he remarks, but she 
stutters on the word "restoration." But she will learn to speak more 
plainly as shot and shell are poured into her melting ranks. 

The proposal to make peace before victory cannot be considered 
by the allies while they are in possession of their senses. Mr. Lloyd 
George sees that peace would merely enable Germany to recoup her 
strength for another struggle in which she might be victorious. There 
must be no "next time," says the British premier. The status of 
the nations must be fixed now, by this war. Democracy, self-govern- 
ment, adjustment of boundaries according to nationalities when 
practicable, and other means of insuring lasting peace must be the 
fruits of this war. 

Thoroughly fought out, this war may be transformed into a 
blessing for the world by giving the people the opportunity to rule 
themselves. Half fought out, the war would mean a vast extension 
of German oppression and an immediate threat of still greater war. 
The free nations would be instantly compelled to arm to the teeth 
and prepare to fight Germany. Singly they might not be able to resist 
her, and thus they might go down. Combined as they are now, they 
can thoroughly beat Germany within a year or two and then make a 
peace on civilization's terms, not on Germany's. 

Germany is defeated now, if the allies will merely hold together 
and administer the finishing strokes. The malignant, slippery mon- 
ster that calls itself Germany is now contriving with all its might to 
obtain peace before its life is crushed out. If the allies permit it to 
wriggle out of their death-grip it will try to repay them by destroying 
them. 

Samuel Gompers never did a better day's work than when he 
rejected the invitation plot to involve American labor in the con- 

[53] 



DEFEAT GERMANY, THEN GIVE HER PEACE 

ference at Stockholm. This invitation is inspired by Germany, op- 
erating upon weak-minded tools in France and Britain. The clumsy 
plot appears to have fooled many open-minded and honest men in 
Europe, but it has not misled the governments, nor does it delude 
Americans. 

Americans see clearly that the only peace to which Germany is 
entitled is the peace imposed upon her by overwhelming defeat. When 
her legions are shattered, her domination over Austria blasted away, 
her Hohenzollerns knocked off their throne, her troops thrust back 
within her boundaries and her people show unmistakable evidence 
of repentance and a desire to behave decently toward their neigh- 
bors, it will be time to talk peace. The peace terms will then be laid 
down to Germany, and Germany as a spent and beaten offender will 
pay the price of peace. The price which she has made others pay 
for war must be paid by her for peace. 

There is no compromise. There is no method whereby civiliza- 
tion can be half shackled by a Germany half beaten. Either the 
shackles will be burst off or Germany will not be beaten. Nor can 
the struggle be postponed. It is here and now that the world must 
settle accounts with Germany, for all time to come. 



[54] 



Tuesday, August 7, 1917 

Why Not Fight with All Our Power? 
A MERICANS do not question the necessity of war against Ger- 
J^\ many until victory is achieved. There is no thought of any 
outcome other than victory. The duration of the war does not 
cause apprehension. The American attitude seems to be expressed 
by Col. Roosevelt when he says: "No one can tell how long this war 
will last. If we are true to ourselves we will make it last just as 
long as is necessary in order to insure the complete overthrow of 
the Prussianized Germany of the Hohenzollerns." 

It is hardly to be gainsaid, however, that America has not 
authorized the full use of its strength toward defeating the imperial 
liberticide whose downfall is a foregone conclusion. Why should 
the process be prolonged because America does not fight its best from 
the very start? 

There are boastful articles in the newspapers because of the 
fact that over 800,000 Americans are now actually under arms in the 
army and navy and marine corps. That is a situation that should 
be humiliating instead of inspiring. Holland can say as much; little 
Holland, which trembles whenever the cold eyes of the German kaiser 
turn toward her. Sweden can call out at a moment's notice as many 
men as are now bearing the American flag on land and sea; and yet 
Sweden fears Germany's wrath as one fears assassination. 

It is announced that there will be no submarine-chasers, because 
torpedoboat destroyers have been found more efficient. But this 
announcement comes four months after the war began. Was it not 
possible to take advantage of British and French naval experience 
without weighing the subject four months? Is the plan just now 
going into effect, after four months' waste of time? That does not 
seem to be waging war against Germany as it should be waged. 
That is the manner of a feeble and timorous navy, not the manner 
of John Paul Jones and those other heroes down to Dewey. 

The strength and power of the United States will be measured 
and will count for the amount exerted against Germany, not the 
amount that could be exerted. 

If the United States limits its fighting strength to 1,000,000 or 
1,500,000, or even 2,000,000 men, it will strike a blow no harder than 
could be struck by any other nation capable of raising 2,000,000 men ; 

[55] 



WHY NOT FIGHT WITH ALL OUR POWER? 

say Holland, Portugal, Sweden, Spain, Brazil or Argentina. The 
blow felt by Germany will not be any more effective than if there 
were no gigantic nation of 100,000,000 Americans behind the blow. 

The only difference between small nations and the United States 
when it limits its war energies to an equality with them is that those 
nations would be doing their best and would be soon exhausted, while 
the United States would carry on the war indefinitely by raising an- 
other 2,000,000 men if need be. 

Victory would finally go to the United States, but perhaps at a 
loss of 3,000,000 men who could have been saved, most of them, by 
the exercise of overwhelming force from the very beginning. 

Since the United States is in to win, why should it balk at any 
figures of men, money or ships? The greater the massing of forces, 
the shorter will be the war; for Germany will surrender when she sees 
that she must surrender or be annihilated. A short war means fewer 
lives lost. Therefore every American should strive to broaden the 
vision of his representatives in Washington and urge upon them the 
wisdom of making preparations on a scale in keeping with the im- 
mensity of this nation and its power to defend its existence and its 
liberty. 



[56 1 



Wednesday, August 8, 1917 

Another Year of War 

ANOTHER year of war is foreshadowed by every development 
jM^ in Europe and America. The great antagonists are deadlocked 
on three fronts, while the Russian demoralization renders hos- 
tilities in the eastern field nothing more than useless, aimless effusion 
of blood. Czernowicz has changed hands at least ten times, and may 
change hands a dozen more before the war ends. For all practical 
purposes the allies and their enemies may as well call a halt along the 
Russian front while they fight to a decision elsewhere. 

Kerensky's efforts to save the crazy Russian nation are spectac- 
ular and exciting, but so far as the war is concerned they mean nothing. 
Russia cannot organize to withstand German attacks, and Germany 
cannot absorb Russia. They are both facing a terrific winter, and 
if they are wise they will begin to dig in along that front, without 
trying to achieve victory this fall. 

The French and British armies, with splendid gallantry and per- 
sistence, are doing sore damage to the Germans in Flanders and 
northern France. They have made decided headway toward one 
objective, which is Zeebrugge and its submarine base. Nevertheless, 
the rate of progress is slow. With the best of wishes for immediate 
and overwhelming success, it cannot be said in candor that there is 
any prospect of rolling the Germans out of the way before next 
spring. 

Conferences have been held recently in which some of the larger 
aspects of the war and widely separated factors have been discussed. 
Italy and Serbia have had their claims carefully considered by France 
and Great Britain. China's entry into the war has been evident 
since the failure of the German plot to restore the Manchu emperor. 
The Balkan field has been scrutinized, particularly with reference to 
the participation of the Greek army in an offensive against Bulgaria. 
All of these factors, however, depend for their evolution upon still 
larger factors, such as the financial resources of the allies, the concert 
of opinion of the military and naval commanders as to the best way 
to win the war, the part to be played by the United States on the 
western front, etc. It is not conceivable, for example, that the war can 
be won before winter in the Balkans, under any possible plan of op- 
erations. 

[57] 



ANOTHER YEAR OF WAR 

As for the United States, upon which all the allies depend for 
various kinds of assistance, it is quite evident that this country cannot 
bring the war to an end this year. Physical facts cannot be ignored. 
The ocean must be crossed, and after vessels have been provided 
there must be an allowance for losses. The national army will be in 
camp by October, with good luck, but it will not be a trained fighting 
force at that time. If there is no untoward delay it can begin to be 
sent to France by January 1. The transfer of 200,000 men per 
month would mean that April 1 would arrive before the entire army 
would be on French soil. A couple of months' intensive training 
there would make it ready for business. In the meantime Germany 
will be reinforced by its annual harvest of 600,000 well-drilled men, 
while Austria-Hungary will be refreshed with still more. 

An enormous addition must be made to American shipping 
capacity. The allies must have supplies without interruption; the 
army must be sent across; and following the army there must be, 
five or six tons kept afloat for every man sent across. 

Anybody in America who halts a second in war preparation to 
talk peace or peace possibilities is, if he is at heart loyal, a perfect 
idiot. Intelligent suspension of war preparations can only be inspired 
by disloyalty. Every second of delay for the sake of talking possi- 
ble peace is a direct aid to Germany. 

By straining every nerve, the United States will be in fair fight- 
ing trim at the front by the beginning of next summer. From all 
information available, there need be no fear that peace will arrive 
before Americans can join in the fighting. 



[58 1 



Wednesday, August 22, 1917 
Through War to Liberty 

THE Russian Ambassador, in a formal statement regarding the 
Pope's peace proposal, says: "It is considered in Russia that 
the very bases of the Vatican's proposals are inconsistent with 
the democratic aims of the Russian people in this war, and are not 
acceptable from that point of view." 

Inconsistent with democratic aims! That phrase tells the whole 
story of the forthcoming unanimous rejection of the peace proposal 
by the allied nations. 

Peace with Germany, with Germany still able to fall upon 
peaceable self-governing neighbors without warning and destroy 
them, is not the peace that civilization is looking for. War is pref- 
erable to such a peace. 

A written peace with Germany, a treaty peace — what is it? 
Would there not be something shameful in making a solemn engage- 
ment with a government that has firmly established its character 
as a liar? Would not the allied governments be properly chargeable 
with treason to their own peoples if they should strike a false bargain, 
knowing that they were subjecting the safety of their nations to a 
scrap of paper? At a time when the allies, by merely persevering, 
can shatter the German government and compel a just peace with 
a chastened Germany, it would be a crime against mankind to com- 
promise with the populicides who rule Germany. 

What is the righting for? Why is the mighty United States, 
the peace-loving giant republic, massing its millions? Is it some 
verbal misunderstanding, some petty quarrel that is capable of easy 
adjustment by a couple of diplomatic conferences? The Americans 
who think they see peace without victory over Germany are reckon- 
ing without consideration of the past or the future. 

The United States is fighting the great fight of freedom. This 
war marks the turning-point of humanity, and it cannot be settled 
until it is settled right. It goes deeper into the heart of mankind 
than the civil war, which could not be settled until it was settled 
right. Unexpected, unpremeditated, this war has developed into 
the epochal struggle of mankind to be free; to govern itself; to live 
on its own soil, under its own government; to throw off the domina- 
tion of the scepter, the saber, the knout; and to destroy the com- 

r 59 1 



THROUGH WAR TO LIBERTY 

bination of political and physical power personified by the German 
emperor, because this combination is bent upon destroying free 
nations. 

The United States is not fighting for itself alone. It is fighting 
particularly for this hemisphere, every foot of which is dedicated to 
liberty. The New World is represented on the fighting front by Amer- 
ica. The strength of the New World will be spent, if necessary, for 
victory. 

God moves in a mysterious way. Mankind rarely detects the 
workings of the divine hand at the moment. Years hence, when 
self-government shall have been recognized as the normal right of 
humanity, it will be easier to perceive the reason why the United 
States of America fought in Europe, and why for liberty's sake it 
dealt blows of such merciless, terrible force that they seemed to be 
superhuman. 



[60] 



Tuesdaij, August 28, 1917 

The Dangers in an Armistice 

THE sinister suggestion has been thrown out that all that Pope 
Benedict expects from his peace overtures is an armistice, 
during which the belligerents may agree on their respective 
sides as to their terms of peace, and then endeavor to meet in con- 
ference with their enemies. It is suggested that if the antagonists 
once suspend operations they will not resume hostilities. 

An armistice, giving Germany and Austria a chance to breathe, 
might be a fatal move for the allies. It would be to the advantage 
of the Teutons in every respect. Germany has virtually occupied 
the territory mapped out by her in her ambitious "Hamburg-to-the- 
Persian-gulf" program. German military force now controls a greater 
area than the German empire itself. Every moment of time gained by 
Germany by way of armistice would be utilized in strengthening her 
hold upon this occupied territory. Germany does not intend to sur- 
render a foot of ground, wherever occupied. 

The German military party has convinced itself that only a firm 
hold upon occupied territory will save Germany. The talk of "no / 
annexation" in Germany is mere dust in the eyes of the enemy. The 
soul of the German movement is annexation by conquest. 

An armistice would paralyze the valiant arm of Field Marshal 
Haig, at a time when he is delivering stunning blows. It would halt 
the French, who are throwing the invader back. It would confuse 
and discourage Americans in their preparation for great work in 
France. It would destroy the value of the heroic victories of the 
Italians. It would tend to disintegrate the blockade of Germany, 
interfere with American plans to cut off supplies going into Germany, 
and finally it would create a situation conducive to misunderstand- 
ing among the allies. 

The Teutonic alliance is in little danger of disorganization, be- 
cause it is dominated by one nation, whose will is law from Hamburg 
to Jerusalem. The entente alliance is a league of free and equal 
nations, not dominated by any power, and while all of them are in- 
spired by a powerful motive for combining for their common defense, 
there are many interests among them which might be seized upon by 
skillful provocateurs as the basis of misunderstanding and perhaps 
antagonism. While the allies are actively fighting the common enemy 

[61] 



THE DANGERS IN AN ARMISTICE 

these interests cannot disturb their counsels. Once permit the pros- 
pect of peace without complete victory to appear, together with a 
cessation of hostilities, and self-interest might induce some nations 
to make their own case paramount to the common cause. Victory, 
on the other hand, would reassure each of the entente allies that its 
cause could safely await disposition in the general peace council. 

It must be borne in mind that Germany and Austria want peace 
or an armistice above all things. Now, while they are ahead, they 
want peace; not later, when defeats have disheartened their people, 
wrested territory from them, and destroyed forever the dream of a 
greater German empire. Peace now means victory for Germany. 
Energetic war means victory for the allies. 

Germany had every reason in 1914 to maintain the peace. Her 
commerce was expanding, her people were prosperous, and her pres- 
tige among the nations was steadily growing. Germany deliberately 
murdered peace and chose to make enemies of all nations, if necessary, 
rather than surrender her attempt to dominate the world. The only 
safe way to meet and master such madness is to give Germany her 
fill of war; to grant peace to her only after she has been soundly 
whipped. 



[62] 



Sunday, September 2, 1917 

For Short and Victorious War 

THE Senate has wisely decided not to impose excessive taxes 
upon American industry. The vote which rejected the pro- 
posal to take away practically all profits ought to be construed 
by industry as a guarantee that the government, in pursuing the 
enemy, will not run amuck at home. 

We have more than once ventured the suggestion that the people 
are not demanding that this war shall be paid for as it is fought. 
The prize sought is not a passing one, to be enjoyed solely by the 
generation that wins it. The war with Germany is not an enterprise 
to be financed out of current revenue, fortified by extra taxes. It is 
a crisis in the nation's history, which will affect the national life 
forever, according to the sequel. Triumphant, the United States 
will never again be compelled to draw the sword to defend or vindi- 
cate democracy; defeated, government of the people, by the people, 
for the people will perish from the earth. Therefore no plea, no 
domestic situation, no combination of circumstances should influence 
the United States against assembling its whole strength for one 
mighty, decisive, victorious stroke. 

The strength of this nation is in its free spirit, its defenders, 
its wealth, and its ability to utilize its resources. Russia has 
greater resources, but it cannot utilize them and consequently it can- 
not fight effectively. China has wonderful resources, but they are 
not at the disposal of highly developed industry, and accordingly 
China is impotent in war, although she has at least 30,000,000 able- 
bodied men of military age. 

Nothing should be done by the government to diminish the 
nation's spirit or its ability to utilize its resources. 

We speak of overwhelming Germany with airplanes, of defeating 
her by superior machinery of war, of developing wonderful destruc- 
tive agents, and so on. What does this talk amount to, if there is 
no actual accomplishment? It is what American industry, ingenuity 
and teamwork actually produce, not what they might or should pro- 
duce, that will affect Germany. The German war-makers pay no 
attention to words. They pay sharp attention to deeds. 

Any mistake in dealing with American industry, either in taxa- 
tion or price fixing, which would demoralize or discourage produc- 

[63] 



FOR SHORT AND VICTORIOUS WAR 

tion, would surely prolong the war, if it did not make the outcome 
doubtful. Men will not produce at a loss, even if they are inspired 
by patriotism, because they cannot set aside economic law. Their 
workers demand pay. Difficult as the task may be, the government 
must conform to economic law and at the same time defeat Ger- 
many. If the law could be swept aside, if coal would obey a govern- 
ment decree and produce itself at $1 a ton, steel at $25, copper at 
8 cents a pound, and bread at 5 cents a loaf, while wages automatic- 
ally increased, there might be some point in the argument that the 
war should be paid for as it is fought. 

Industry cannot be taxed to the bone and be compelled to pro- 
duce at a loss, and at the same time be expected to increase produc- 
tion. The burst of energy, the expenditure of effort required to 
defeat Germany quickly, would not be forthcoming. It is a choice 
between extending the duration of the war or drawing upon the 
future. By keeping the load of taxation within bounds, making up 
the balance by bond issues extending into the future, and granting 
reasonable profits to industry, there will be a marvelous exhibition 
of America's ability to utilize its resources for the purpose of waging 
victorious war. Then the war will be both short and victorious. 
Then the country will flourish, and increased taxes, easily borne, 
will soon wipe out the costs. 



[64] 



Wednesday, September 5, 1917 
The Army of Freedom 

DEMOCRACY was made visible yesterday in the Capital of the 
United States, when the President, the Senate, the House of 
Representatives, many other officials and the first men called 
to the colors from the District of Columbia marched down Pennsyl- 
vania avenue. It was a sight more impressive in its meaning than 
any pompous review of legions by any king or emperor. It repre- 
sented a self-operating, self-ruling government. The man at the head 
of the column was not there by virtue of any claim of divine right. 
He appeared, not as ruler, but as chief servant of the people who 
placed him there. They applauded him, not as a hereditary ruler 
who had graciously condescended to utilize them for his kingly am- 
bitions, but as a man chosen by themselves to be their guide and 
leader. 

The procession was made up of men who, with their fellows 
throughout the Union, are about to enforce the proposition that gov- 
ernment of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish 
from the earth. Americans know that this is to be the last time that 
America will ever be called upon to vindicate her liberty and inde- 
pendence. They realize that the right of men to govern themselves 
is challenged by a group of desperate rulers who have assembled un- 
precedented power for the purpose of dominating or destroying all 
popular governments. America, the champion of self-government, 
is determined to shatter the physical power of those autocrats, and 
thus relegate forever to the past the menace to liberty. Every man 
who marched behind the President of the United States was a repre- 
sentative of the millions who will march on the enemy. 

The future is a sealed book, and no one can write down the sequel 
to this historic march, except in one particular. It can be stated now, 
as certainly as if the last chapter of the war had been reached, that 
the United States will successfully assert and maintain its independ- 
ence, its democratic government, its undiminished and unquestioned 
sovereignty, its equal right to the high seas of the world, its peaceful 
enjoyment of its own territory without disturbance from spies and 
traitors, its right to sympathize with and assist oppressed peoples, 
and its special right and duty to defend and protect the free repub- 
lics of the New World. 

[65] 



THE ARMY OF FREEDOM 

The God of battles will determine how and when American lads 
shall fall, and whether their bones shall rest under alien skies or in 
the deep bosom of the ocean; but true Americans devoutly believe 
that not one of these lads will die in vain. They believe that the di- 
vinity that shapes the ends of liberty has decreed that the Hohen- 
zollerns and Hapsburgs shall go down to destruction, and that free 
nations will emerge out of the autocracies that have blighted man- 
kind. 

It is with fierce joy that Americans welcome the final test of the 
perpetuity of their republic. They are glad that the struggle is com- 
ing now, if it had to come. With exulting hearts they prepare to 
deliver the deathstroke to the enemy of mankind. They are im- 
patient to see the Stars and Stripes flying in the lightning and the 
storm, at the head of the banners of free nations that march to 
victory. 



[66 



Saturday, September 8, 1917 

Japan and the United States 
ASIDE from the arrangements now on foot whereby the United 
^"^ States and Japan may effectively cooperate in the common 
cause of war, and in addition to these practical matters, the 
results of the visit of the Japanese mission to America are most grati- 
fying and far-reaching. From the moment the visitors from the 
Orient received the first cheer of welcome at San Francisco to the 
present hour, Americans have been glad to extend the hand of hos- 
pitality. California's cordial greeting was especially significant, since 
it was California that embarrassed- the friendly relations of the two 
governments some years ago. The feeling on the Pacific coast has 
steadily changed for the better as the solid virtues of the Japanese 
people and government have been better understood. 

It was in the House of Representatives, however, that a more 
certain expression of American feeling toward Japan was made by 
representatives from every part of the Union. The appearance of 
the members of the mission was the signal for an extraordinary out- 
burst, which manifested America's admiration for what Japan has 
accomplished and what it stands ready to do in this war. America 
instinctively pays homage to courage and ability. It is especially 
glad to honor frugality, industry and a lively sense of self-respect. 
These universally admirable qualities are conspicuous in the Japa- 
nese people. They have raised Japan to high estate and opened for it 
a future glowing with promise. 

The Pacific Ocean is wide enough to give America and Japan 
all possible room for growth and prosperity, and deep enough to 
drown every possible cause of difference. In the spacious areas bor- 
dering upon that sea will be developed new civilizations, and the 
ancient barriers that made and kept the east and west strangers will 
be swept away. 

In the centuries preceding Columbus' voyage the European who 
actually traveled from Venice to a place in the Orient where he could 
gain authentic knowledge of Cipango, the marvelous island beyond 
Cathay, was a man who could command the attention of kings and 
popes. 

Since Columbus' time the way to Japan has been across the 
unending leagues of sea; a laborious voyage even now, and tending 

[67] 



JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES 

to prevent the people of either country from thoroughly understand- 
ing the other. Considering the natural obstacles, it is a marvel 
that the United States and Japan have not been interrupted in the 
development of friendship and understanding. In the days to come, 
with communication wonderfully improved by air travel, the two 
nations will laugh at the mistaken notions of the past, based upon 
isolation and ignorance. 

With clasped hands, the United States and Japan look frankly 
at each other, recognizing that the east and west are both alike and 
not alike. In matters not alike, there is at least mutual respect for 
the other's rights. In matters that are alike, such as a sense of honor 
and justice, the two nations stand firmly together against a nation 
that deliberately and willfully, for sake of gain, threw away its honor. 

Honor, justice and truth are not overcome by latitude or longi- 
tude. Japan and the United States understand each other. 



168] 



Tuesday, September 11, 1917 
No Peace with Germany Unbeaten 

CHANCELLOR MICHAELIS announces that Germany will soon 
be able to outline her peace terms. That announcement would 
be of supreme importance if Germany were defeated or broken, 
but as matters stand it means nothing more than a fresh effort to 
deceive. 

The unshakable determination of the allied governments is 
voiced by President Wilson. This decision is that no uncertain peace 
will be made with Germany. Peace will be made only with a Ger- 
many that is morally unwilling and physically incapable of repeating 
the outrages that have inflamed the world. Therefore the democrati- 
zation of Germany does not necessarily mean peace, although it opens 
the way to peace. If Germany, after having been liberalized, should 
retain her militarism, she need not expect the civilized governments 
of the world to make terms with her except on the battlefield. 

Michaelis is not the man to propose acceptable peace terms. He 
does not represent the civilized portion of the German people. What- 
ever disguise he may adopt, his voice is the voice of the kaiser and 
he deceives no one. A better man than Michaelis, chosen by the 
people and not by the kaiser, must appear and offer peace before 
civilization will cease war on the barbarians. The disappearance of 
such men as Michaelis is one of the proofs that the world demands 
from Germany to show that reform has begun. 

The enemy may read President Wilson's note as he pleases, but 
he cannot draw from it any support of the idea that the United States 
or the allied nations will shake hands with Germany the moment 
she has liberalized her government, and forget all that Germany has 
done. The world will not make peace without a reckoning and a 
guarantee. Peace without a reckoning for outrages committed would 
mean a German victory, a reward to the butchers for their bloody 
work; and peace without a guarantee would mean that Germany 
would be free to repeat her assault upon civilization. 

So it does not matter what Michaelis may say unless his message 
is a surrender. 

As for the collapse of Russia, Germany's acts reveal only too 
plainly that there is no spirit of peace in the Berlin conspirators. 
"Peace terms" is made a lying phrase by the acts of Germany. When 

[69] 



no peace; with Germany unbeaten 

the German staff thought Russia was strong there were hypocritical 
peace overtures and fraternization of soldiers. When Russia was 
found to be demoralized, the peace overtures were followed by asphyx- 
iating bombs and the Russians were run out of Riga. There is more 
good territory along the Baltic which Germany must have. She is 
gobbling it as fast as possible. So long as this process is under way 
there will be no peace. The German people are still misled by their 
mendacious emperor, who dangles before them dazzling promises of 
conquest and victory, with the blasphemous assurance that the Deity 
smiles upon Germany's murderous work. 

Germany defeated will make peace, but Germany advancing and 
fattening on her neighbors will never make peace. Adversity, hunger 
and defeat will work winders in democratizing Germany and civil- 
izing the people. 

Peace talk from any German source, from the emperor down to 
the meanest spy, is nothing but treachery while Germany is unbeaten. 



[70] 



Thursday, September 13, 1917 

The Great Drama in Russia 

RUSSIA attracts the world's attention by engaging in civil strife 
while Hohenzollern savages are burning the gates and prepar- 
ing to overrun the land. It is a stupendous drama, full of the 
gorgeous color and mystery of the east, while drawing into the coil 
of the plot every western nation. The stage is an empire comprising 
one-seventh of the earth. The actors are men of obscure origin and 
unknown potentialities, from whom at any moment may emerge a 
colossal figure mingling western science with oriental fatalism, capa- 
ble of vast benevolences and appalling crimes; a Genghis Khan, a 
Peter the Great and a Lincoln merged into one contradictory indi- 
vidual. 

Korniloff or Kerensky, or a greater than either, may be even 
now moving toward the seat of power over the millions of Russia. 
A thousand circumstances make it impossible for any one to foresee 
the outcome of present disturbances, even if witnessing them at close 
range. From this distance It appears that Korniloff represents the 
moderate, practical element that leans neither to absolutism nor 
socialistic idealism. Korniloff is plainly a man in deadly earnest, 
intent upon restoring order and then defeating the Germans. Keren- 
sky's aim is the same, but he would accomplish it by methods which 
have not been effectual in dealing with men in masses. He clings to 
the idea that an army can be governed by committees, while Korniloff 
would govern it by officers wielding the power of life and death. 

Apparently the systems represented by these men must be sub- 
jected to the test of battle, and one or the other leader may lose his life. 
That is the price that is only too often paid by patriots who serve 
liberty struggling from the bonds of tyranny. It may be that the 
blood of Kerensky or the blood of Korniloff is needed to cement 
the foundation stones of the new Russia; and the men who shed this 
blood may be the chief mourners thereafter. 

The allied nations can do little more than look on at the confla- 
gration in Russia. They can assist somewhat by diverting Germany, 
but the foe cannot be prevented from making inroads while the 
guardians are fighting among themselves. Russia must work out 
her own salvation. Peace with Germany might not facilitate matters 
much in Russia; indeed, some observers are of the opinion that the 

171] 



THE GREAT DRAMA IN RUSSIA 

Russians are more likely to adjust their internal differences under 
stress of foreign danger than otherwise. 

No accurate information is forthcoming as to the extent of 
German influence in the turmoil that is culminating in civil war in 
Russia. It may be taken for granted that the spies of Germany are 
active and ingenious in stirring up strife. The first object of Ger- 
many is to prevent Russia from exerting military power; the second 
presumably is to contrive a separate peace with Russia. One of the 
probabilities, therefore, is the appearance of a faction secretly financed 
and supported by Germany, which will seek to obtain control if only 
for a period long enough to execute a treaty betraying the country 
to Germany. 

Fortunately for the safety of Russia, in this respect, the coun- 
try has been put on its guard against German plotters, and no con- 
siderable portion of the Russian public should be so credulous as to 
be misled by men in German employ. 



[72] 



Saturday, September 15, 1917 
The War Must Go On 

THE outline of the Teutonic reply to the Pope's peace proposal 
reveals it to be nothing more than a pretense. While pre- 
tending to make concessions, Germany makes none. While 
speaking of the right of all peoples to regulate their own governments, 
Germany's rulers deny the right to their own people. The reply is 
nothing more than verbal fencing, in an attempt to dodge the unerring 
point of President Wilson's rapier without revealing to the German 
people the fatal weakness of Germany's cause. 

Probably the German people will look upon the Teutonic reply 
as admirable. The official propaganda has done its work well, en- 
couraging the German people to continue fighting and starving by 
convincing them that their enemies must soon capitulate. The reply 
will be interpreted to the German people as a skillful piece of work, 
enticing the enemy into peace without yielding any essential ad- 
vantage. 

Throughout the war it has been proved that the German people 
are singularly receptive to official falsehoods. So long as any state- 
ment is made upon authority of the German government, it is be- 
lieved, without regard to inherent probability. The more prepos- 
terous the assertion the more passionately is it seized upon by the 
sorely pressed victims of German misrule. The German population 
actually believes that France is in its last throes; that Great Britain 
is on the verge of starvation; that Italy is about to face revolution; 
that Russia is a ruin, and that the United States is torn by con- 
flicting opinions, emaciated by the money disease, and unable to 
gather strength sufficient to strike an effective blow. 

Confidence in what the government says and does seems to be a 
substitute for religion in Germany. It is a part of patriotism to 
take the mental food that is doled out, without protesting against the 
quality or quantity. Germany is on short rations of facts as well 
as of food, and if there are no truth cards in circulation it is because 
the commodity has disappeared. The people are provided with a 
substitute for the truth, which is filling but not nourishing. 

The desperate stage of a desperate game has been reached by the 
German emperor and his satellites. They must make peace within a 
few weeks or months, or they are forever lost. The lies which once 

[73] 



THE WAR MUST GO ON 

lulled the German mind are becoming ineffective. The people are 
wondering why the enemy is so stubborn. Has not the emperor told 
the foes that they were defeated? Why do they persist in righting? 
Is not Germany occupying Belgium, France, Poland, Galicia, Cour- 
land, Bukowina, Roumania, Serbia, Montenegro and other territory? 
Can it be possible that Germany must actually conquer the world 
and occupy Paris, London, Petrograd, Rome and Washington before 
the prostrate enemies will make peace? That cannot be done, even 
by Germany's glorious steel-hard armies; hence the dreadful question 
thrusts itself forward, Has Germany lost the war? Must we and not 
the enemy sue for peace? 

The allies are content to go forward with the war. Struggle as 
he will, the German emperor is caught. The power of civilization 
and liberty, loose-jointed and unmilitary as it is, vastly excels the 
strength of German militarism. The fate of Germany's masters has 
been written; all that remains is the due execution. 

The war will go on until German power is humbled and disabled. 
Peace proposals mean nothing, and replies to them are hardly worth 
writing. The German people must learn the truth by adversity if 
they will not or cannot learn it otherwise. 



[74 



Thursday, September 20, 1917 
Liberty on the March 

THE turmoil in Russia and the confusion necessarily attending 
America's war preparations have served to dishearten a certain 
type of American. This type must have sunny skies always, 
with couriers dashing up with reports of overwhelming victories on 
every field. A single setback, a single disappointing report, and the 
skies grow black and defeat is a certainty. 

The true American stands back, a little apart from the crowd, 
and quietly applies his individual intelligence to the situation. He 
is anything but disheartened. On the contrary, he is more confi- 
dent than ever that the country is right; that it is right to be in the 
war, right in its preparations, right in its attitude toward friends and 
foes, and right before God. 

The disturbances in Russia do not call for disgust and abandon- 
ment of Russia by the United States. They call for instant, complete, 
eager help for the millions of free people who are trying to shape a 
republic. Will it be said that America stood cynically by and saw 
a nation struggling, without extending to it any help whatever? What 
would have become of this nation if the French had been cynical and 
pessimistic in 1776? 

Americans would be poltroons and desecrators of liberty if they 
deserted the Russian people now, in the hour of their confusion. This 
is the hour for courage, confidence and aid. There should pour forth 
from America a stream of strength to Russia — men, materials, money, 
everything that will help the Russians to establish a government of, 
by and for the people. From this coast and from the Pacific steam- 
ships should be hurrying across with railroad equipment, locomotives, 
cars, guns, rifles, rations, clothing, airplanes, wireless outfits, motor 
trucks and every other necessity of war. With them should go en- 
gineers, mechanics, electricians, railroad builders and operators, army 
and navy officers, automobile builders, wireless operators, and as 
many soldiers as Russia needs or America can spare. 

Every pound of steel, every bullet, every can of meat, every 
man sent to aid Russia is a blow at Germany and a stroke for human 
liberty. Let there be no niggardliness in helping Russia! Let the 
New World pour out its resources and help the struggling giant of the 
snows! Hereafter, when the world is over its nightmare, Russia will 

[75] 



LIBERTY ON THE MARCH 

return a thousandfold every act of friendship. The millions of that 
colossal republic, united in free fraternity with the millions of this 
republic, will constitute a force that the world will never treat with 
anything but absolute respect. 

No need of a treaty ; there is no treaty between the United States 
and France. A tie stronger than treaties binds the warm hearts of 
those nations. 

As for America's war preparations, why look at the imperfections 
when one may look at the spectacle of a mighty nation arising from 
its slumber, drawing to itself the powers and riches of a hemisphere, 
and forging the weapon whose thunders will be the Declaration of 
Independence of all mankind? For itself America draws the blade 
that is sheathed only with victory; but she draws it also for liberty, 
which of right belongs to Russia and the rest of the world as well as 
to America. 

Roughly and rudely free men group together to defend their 
liberties. They are jealous of liberty, and will not throw it away 
while trying to preserve it. The free nations, by the very fact of 
their freedom, do not act as machines or slaves. But they are draw- 
ing together vast powers from inconceivable reservoirs of strength, 
and with the spirit of outraged Liberty they will strike down, de- 
molish, and obliterate the devilish spirit and force that would shackle 
mankind. 



[76] 



Monday, September 24, 1917 
The Changing Submarine Problem 

SUBMARINES are now hunting their prey in packs, like veritable 
) wolves of the sea. One reason for this method of pursuit is the 

practice of the allies in sending out transports in squadrons of 
twenty or more, convoyed by cruisers and destroyers. The speed of 
the squadron is determined by the slowest vessel, often not more 
than five or six knots an hour. As the squadron approaches the 
danger zone the vessels are required to zigzag continually, which 
further decreases their speed. 

It is estimated that 90 per cent, of 10-knot vessels fall victims 
of submarines, while only 10 per cent, of 16-knot vessels are lost. 
Slow vessels, singly or in squadron, are easy prey for submarines. 
The convoy saves a transport from shellfire, but not from torpedo 
attack. A submarine usually pays no attention to a convoy, direct- 
ing its torpedoes always against the cargo vessel. These facts support 
the policy of the Emergency Fleet Corporation in suspending plans for 
the construction of slow wooden vessels. 

Experience day by day in dealing with the submarine enables 
the allied governments to make progress in defensive measures. 
There is still much to be done, but now that the governments know 
what is necessary, the work is half accomplished. Besides smoke 
boxes for screening vessels, the use of smokeless fuel, the arming of 
vessels with quick-fire guns, increased speed and vigilant convoy ser- 
vice, one or two other methods can be adopted which will save vessels. 
One of the important lessons of recent encounters is that vessels 
must carry heavier guns. A 3-inch gun is worse than useless when 
a submarine carries a 6-inch gun. It was an unequal duel of that 
kind which sent the Campana to the bottom after her captain and 
gun crew had been taken prisoners. 

It is the present practice of German submarines to hover off the 
coast of France and England, lying in wait for transport squadrons. 
In one recent encounter no less than nine submarines cooperated in 
an attack. They almost succeeded in destroying a transport, but ex- 
pert seamanship and gunnery, aided by a French airship, fought off 
the undersea boats. When the details of that encounter are pub- 
lished they will reflect great credit upon the United States navy. 

When one contemplates the prodigious tonnages that must be 
transported to France and the steady diminution of shipping, it is 

[77] 



THE CHANGING SUBMARINE PROBLEM 

difficult to refrain from joining the rising chorus that is demanding 
some kind of aggressive action by the British and American fleets. 
Some experts insist that Helgoland and the mined coast of Germany 
can be overcome by the combined allied fleets, while other experts 
assert that such an attempt would be more costly and ineffectual than 
the enterprise at the Dardanelles. There is reason to believe, how- 
ever, that the allies have decided to make desperate efforts to destroy 
the submarine bases on the Belgian coast, and to tighten the cordon 
around the North Sea. 

Germany is building additional submarines and shaping her 
policy so that new frightfulness will be possible next spring. About 
280 submarines will be ready by next May, according to the best 
information obtainable. By that time, unless winter forces suspen- 
sion of destruction, the shipping controlled by the allies will be ma- 
terially less than now, and the margin for American transport neces- 
sities correspondingly narrower. These necessities will be at their 
maximum at the time when the supply of shipping will be at the 
minimum. It is this fact which calls for the exercise of every possible 
protective measure, the redoubling of energy in building ships, and 
the hardening of the American spirit to resist the effect of losses that 
will surely come. 



78 



Friday, September 28, 1917 

The Robber Wants Peace 

GERMANY is making her peace overtures substantially as fore- 
seen by the allied governments. German psychology is run- 
ning true to form. The policy of secrecy, mendacity and ra- 
pacity, driven into operation by desperate conditions, results in one 
peace proposal after another, each so incurably base and corrupt as 
to constitute an insult to the world's intelligence as well as its honor. 

The manner of these peace overtures is as furtive as their sub- 
stance. The latest bait, dealing with Belgium, is not a direct offer, 
but comes indirectly in the shape of a verbal note from Kuhlmann 
to the papal nuncio at Munich. Kuhlmann is the diplomat whose 
kultur in the art of lying made his service at Constantinople con- 
spicuous and earned for him the office of foreign minister. It is said 
that he is even more brightly polished than Count von Bernstorff. 

Kuhlmann's proposal regarding Belgium is that Germany shall 
restore the kingdom to its people. That sounds well. Then he out- 
lines the conditions upon which Germany would be willing to restore 
the property she has stolen. Among the conditions are these: That 
Germany should have a free hand at Antwerp ; that the country should 
be divided administratively to suit Germany; that guarantees should 
be given against the repetition of such menace as that which threat- 
ened Germany in 1914. This latter condition is equivalent to the 
charge that Belgium was conspiring in 1914 to assist France and 
England to invade Germany, and that only Germany's instant in- 
vasion of Belgium saved Germany from a deadly attack through 
Belgian territory. 

There it is; the thief will release part of his plunder if he is 
permitted to retain what he wants, dictate the government of the 
remainder, and obtain a bond declaring that he is not a thief, but was 
merely engaged in preventing thieves from entering his premises. 

After reading the ''Willy-Nicky" correspondence it is easier to 
understand the curious mixture of evil purpose and naive expression 
that distinguishes the distorted brain of the German emperor. The 
stupidity of German diplomacy is rendered more plain when the 
world has an opportunity to see the workings of the Hohenzollern 
intellect. That intellect has not changed since the old vulture days 
when the Hohenzollerns roosted on their crags, swooped down upon 

[79] 



THE ROBBER WANTS PEACE 

their victims, and bore away women and booty to their stronghold. 
They were robbers and assassins then, and they are robbers and 
assassins now. 

It is the policy of this robber Hohenzollern empire to throw 
out bait, as little as will effect the purpose, to induce Germany's 
enemies to desist from attacking her. She has immense spoils, and 
all that remains is to escape safely. The plaint of German newspapers 
is that the allied nations are beaten, but stubbornly refuse to admit 
it. Why the allies persist in fighting is a great mystery to Germany. 
But since they do persist, some of the booty must be offered as a 
bribe for peace. Let them have Belgium, with strong strings attached. 
If this will not satisfy them, let them have Serbia also, with condi- 
tions which will make the bait worthless. And then Poland, and 
northern France, and Alsace and Lorraine, always with reservations. 

Germany's peace overtures are as deadly as poison gas. They 
are no more friendly than submarine attacks. They have the same 
quality of treachery. The allies would be simple-minded fools if 
they should suspend for a single second their preparations to demolish 
Germany, in order to listen to her peace proposals. 

It is perfectly evident that the robber will not disgorge until 
forced to do so. The necessary force is now assembling. There is 
no escape from the avenging hand. Let it be raised in might, and let 
it strike home! 



[80] 



Monday, October 1, 1917 
Only at the Cannon's Mouth 

GERMANY'S intention to hold all territory taken in the war, 
in order to obtain the greatest possible advantage in the 
peace conference, is the clear announcement of Chancellor 
Michaelis. For once he is telling the truth. 

If it were possible to imagine the voluntary and unconditional 
relinquishment of German colonies by Great Britain and Japan, it 
would be easy to imagine that Germany might let go of Belgium. On 
neither side is friendly concession possible. Whatever is relinquished 
must be relinquished under the compulsion of war. 

Until the enemies of Germany have driven her out of invaded 
territories it would be the height of folly to begin peace negotiations. 
Under the law of nations each party is entitled to hold what it pos- 
sesses, and if it surrenders any captured territory it requires an 
equivalent concession of some kind. The starting point of peace ne- 
gotiations must be the war map, not the map as it stood before the 
war. There was a Belgium once, and a Serbia, but they do not exist 
now. Unless Germany's enemies drive her from the territory that was 
once Belgium and Serbia, Germany will not relinquish that territory 
any more than she will relinquish Brandenburg. The allies would 
have to pay all and more than Belgium and Serbia were worth to 
induce Germany to agree in a peace conference to withdraw from 
those territories, if she should actually hold them at the time of the 
conference. 

Germany is willing to make peace. So would the allies be will- 
ing, if they had the advantage of holding an immense proportion of 
enemy territory and could force Germany to pay their price for its 
recovery. What trading material do the allies possess, except the 
German colonies and some Teuton ships? 

Germany's trump card is the enemy territory she holds. The 
allies' trump card is their superiority in military resources. If they 
play this card skillfully they will be able eventually to do with Ger- 
many as they please. 

The game is far from finished. Overconfidence has injured both 
players, but principally the allies. Germany expected to win early 
in the game, but when she failed she readjusted her plans with light- 
ning swiftness. The allies expected Belgium to hold the Liege forts; 

[81] 



ONLY AT THE CANNON'S MOUTH 

they expected the British handful to hold Antwerp; they expected the 
British fleet to knock over the Dardanelles forts and take Constanti- 
nople; they expected Serbia to hold Belgrade; they expected Russia 
to overwhelm Austria and take and hold East Prussia; they expected 
Bulgaria to join the entente; they expected Sarrail to cut the Orient 
railroad; they expected Grand Duke Nicholas to march along the 
Black Sea coast from Trebizond to Constantinople; they expected 
Korniloff to work new wonders in Galicia; they expected many other 
triumphs which need not be mentioned, all of which failed to 
materialize. 

And now many Americans expect Germany to sue for peace 
rather than fight the United States. 

This is not the time for Americans to boast. Let them boast 
after the enemy is beaten and they have laid their armor off. By 
what logic is it presumed that 500,000 Americans will defeat Germany, 
when three or four times that many Germans may be withdrawn from 
the Russian front to meet the Americans? Is it wise to underestimate 
the enemy? 

By colossal preparation and deadly fixedness of purpose, by 
thorough cooperation with the allies, by absolute devotion to the one 
cause of victory, America will be able to furnish the strength needed 
to win. It is pure madness to expect Germany to yield anything 
except at the cannon's mouth. 



rs2] 



Thursday, October 4, 1917 
The World League Knocking Out War 

MANY persons think the present war is nothing less than the 
suicide of nations. The "suicide of Europe" is used by some 
pessimistic individuals as a description of the struggle. 

This appears to us to be an erroneous view. A better and more 
accurate statement would be this: The struggle in Europe is the 
suicide of war. 

Nations will remain, and Europe will remain, but war will have 
committed suicide. 

Once this war dies there will not be another world war. The 
peoples of every nation in the world are wondering how to stop this 
war. It is a terrible problem, but humanity is solving it. Having 
reassumed control, men will fashion a bridle and a bit that will keep 
nations in check. 

Liberty will be under a check-rein, so that it will not run into 
license; and men exercising authority, as kings or presidents or 
premiers, will wear bridles and bits, with the reins in the hands of the 
people. 

All men see clearly now why there is war and why war is com- 
mitting suicide. It is the last attempt of the old system to dominate 
the world. The old system of the divine right of kings is in a finish 
fight with the new system of government by the people. 

The mistake made by the world up to 1914 was in presuming 
that Europe was civilized and all the rest of the globe rapidly ac- 
quiring civilization. Germany's barbaric philosophy, insane egotism 
and feverish war preparations were regarded as the idle vaporings 
of a vain but harmless monarch, a fellow a little tainted in blood and 
brain, as many kings are nowadays. Nobody took the man Hohen- 
zollern seriously when he bragged of German supremacy and breathed 
threatenings and slaughter. But he was supported by the stout, 
frugal, steady German people, who stick to the old ideas as they stick 
to life itself, and who accepted as gospel Hohenzollern's rubbish con- 
cerning his inheritance from God. With their aid this megalomaniac 
built up a wonderful war machine and proceeded to try to prove to 
the whole world that he was God's special agent and sole director of 
mundane affairs. 

[83] 



THE WORLD LEAGUE KNOCKING OUT WAR 

Owing to the misdirection and misapplication of the virtues of 
the German people it has been difficult for the world to reach Hohen- 
zollern and knock his addled brains out. There was no war ma- 
chinery to equal Germany's, and the rest of the world insisted upon 
behaving in a civilized manner, even in warfare. 

Now there is war machinery superior to Germany's. Sledge- 
hammer blows are beating into the German people a glimmering of 
the truth; reluctantly, but steadily, they are rubbing their eyes and 
discovering that they are and of right ought to be their own masters, 
and masters of no one else. The world has taken Hohenzollern's 
measure and is engaged in laying him low. With him will go the 
other Hohenzollerns and Hapsburgs, and any other king or potentate 
who cares or dares to stand forth and assert that he is a ruler by 
divine right. All the claptrap and trumpery of divine rulership goes 
into the rubbish heap together. 

Self-governing nations will share this earth. Independent, free 
and self-governing, they will naturally and inevitably combine to 
destroy any ruler, nation or people that attempts to destroy a neigh- 
bor's independence. They have already combined to do this, and 
are in the very act of destroying the only combination that threatens 
self-governing nations. 

Every free nation in the world should eagerly and quickly join 
in the splendid task of demolishing the last stronghold of blasphemous 
"divine rulership," which has taken civilization unawares and caused 
the world to bleed. 

Thank God, the United States of America has bared its sword 
and is sharing gloriously in the work of cleaning up the Hohenzollerns ! 



[84] 



Friday, October 5, 1917 
Under the Stars and Stripes 

THE attitude of the business men of the United States toward the 
government is most inspiring at this time. Like everybody 
else, business men are suddenly forced to look at old habits and 
relations* in a new light. The war is shaking Americans into a new 
consciousness, and compelling them to readjust themselves and their 
affairs to an entirely novel situation. The new situation is change- 
able, as well as novel, and this fact requires men to be ready to 
expand their minds still further; to be receptive to truth, however 
strange it may be ; to look ahead as far as possible, and to be resolute 
as well as circumspect. 

Without any military or naval struggle to thrill the blood, Amer- 
ican business men have quickly understood the nature of their duty 
to the country and have promptly prepared themselves in mind, 
heart and fortune to perform that duty. The proportion of slackers 
in industry is very small. Here and there is a would-be profiteer 
whose dull brain has not caught fire from the divine spark of patriot- 
ism. He is despised by his fellows, and if he fails to get understand- 
ing he will be cast out or crushed. 

One after another, the industries of the United States are wheel- 
ing into line, like magnificent divisions on a tremendous field of 
battle. They are taking their places in defense of the American flag 
as instinctively and as efficiently as though they had always been 
organized for possible war. 

It is inspiring to see American lads march under the Stars and 
Stripes, and it is also inspiring to see American industry turn aside 
from profit-making to marshal its resources for the arming and pro- 
tecting of the boys under the flag. The hard, practical spirit of 
American business had been ashamed of revealing its heart. The 
leaders reserved their emotions for their private hours. But when 
American business men saw their own sons marching away, and began 
to realize that a failure to deal fairly with the government meant 
mistreatment of their own flesh and blood, the spirit of patriotism 
swept through every factory and counting house in the country. 

In building the Panama Canal the industries of the United States 
cooperated with the government in an attack upon natural obstacles, 
and gloriously won the battle. The same audacity that split the 

[85] 



UNDER THE STARS AND STRIPES 

mountains and whipped rivers about iike a whiplash is now chal- 
lenged by a cunning, savage and powerful enemy. This enemy is 
skilled in warfare, wields absolute authority over at least 10,000,000 
righting men, and occupies a position of immense defensive strength. 
Is American industry daunted? Is it faint-hearted at the prospect? 

On the contrary, the gigantic forces of this nation respond 
cxultingly to the challenge. The leviathans of coal and electricity 
begin to throb and glow; the wheels turn, the lights flash, the chim- 
neys bombard the skies with smoke. Labor bares the arm that tore 
the continent in two, and takes up the hammer of Thor. The field 
marshals of industry are in Washington, reporting for duty as punc- 
tually as any sentinel. America's industrial millions, the indomi- 
table brain and brawn that have made this nation the granary and 
the powerhouse of the world, arc all massed behind the government 
of the United States. 

Blow, bugles, blow! 



[S6 



Sunday, October 7, 1917 
Preparing Germany for the Truth 

THE Congress has adjourned for a brief time after a session that 
will ever be conspicuous in the annals of America. Congress 
was called to deliberate upon the momentous question of war. 
It declared for war as the only course the United States could take 
in preserving its independence, its national rights, and the lives and 
property of its people. Thereupon, through six months of conscien- 
tious toil, Congress considered, perfected and enacted the legislation 
that puts into motion the country's latent powers. The purse was 
opened and $20,000,000,000 apportioned for war; the sword was drawn, 
to be wielded with all the strength of this nation, and not to be 
sheathed without victory. 

What vicegerent of the Almighty instructed Congress to take 
these irrevocable steps? What anointed head, on a throne established, 
by divine authority, issued the fiat upon which Congress acted? The 
people of the enemy nation do not understand how the American 
Congress could meet and of its own motion enact laws which mobilize 
the manhood, the farms, the mountains, the rivers, the forests and 
the mines of this continent and transform into colossal missiles of 
death, to be hurled at the heart of Germany. 

How is it done? Whence arises the power? The reichstag has 
no such power. The bundesrat cannot do such things. America has 
no emperor, no All Highest, and yet it amasses piles of gold and 
mountains of weapons, far exceeding all that the fatherland can 
accomplish. America has loaned over 8,000.000.000 marks to its allies! 
And its marks are not depreciated marks, but worth their face in 
gold! What is to be thought when Belgium, the prostrate little 
country that can barely twitch under Germany's spiked heel — what 
is to be thought when even Belgium can borrow money from the 
Americans, to continue the fight against Germany? And England, 
hated England! How is it that America opens its hands and loans 
hundreds of millions to England, to be spent for guns and shells to 
hurl against Hindenburg? 

The Germans cannot understand America. This nation, they 
think, must be insane. Why does it begin the war with such stupen- 
dous preparations, such excessive zeal? America was all right, the 
Germans say. Germany was not infringing seriously upon her rights. 

[87] 



PREPARING GERMANY FOR THE TRUTH 

The U-boat necessities required Germany to put neutrals aside to 
some extent, but this was purely incidental to the main object of 
defeating France and England. But the Americans were so touchy! 
They would not listen to explanations. They insisted upon ridicu- 
lously scrupulous respect for their rights, even while Germany was 
in the midst of war. They seemed to be hypnotized by their own 
devotion to such phrases as "liberty and independence," "the right 
of self-government," and similar rubbish. 

The session of Congress just ended will only be understood in 
Germany when the laws have been translated into physical power and 
this power matched against Germany's. When the infatuated Ger- 
mans see that the brute force of their enemies is stronger than their 
own brute force they will then begin to understand that there is 
something effective in the idea of free government as opposed to their 
own idea of taking orders from a person of shady antecedents who 
claims to have God's authority for misruling them. From that 
moment it will be easier for them to understand that Congress takes 
its instructions from the people and not from impostors who pose as 
monopolists of divine favor. That fact learned, the Germans may 
take it into their heads to try self-government on their own account. 

They are slow to learn, the Germans, but they do not hesitate to 
appropriate good ideas from other nations, as witness the borrowings 
they have made from French chemists and other scientists. More- 
over, the hammering of superior guns, while it stuns them for the 
moment, is a marvelous eye-opener for the Germans. It prepares 
their minds for all kinds of new ideas. 



[88] 



Tuesday, October 9, 1917 

An Opening for Statesmanship 

PERU and Uruguay have severed relations with the German em- 
pire. The President of Argentina is standing out against the 
overwhelming sentiment of his country, but it is a foregone 
conclusion that Argentina will join the general alliance against the 
power that has attacked civilization. Chile will follow suit. With 
Brazil and Bolivia already aligned, there is little doubt that Ecuador, 
Colombia and Venezuela will declare themselves. In the meantime 
the Central American nations are showing their colors as opposed to 
Germany. 

The significance of this action by New World republics cannot 
be lost on Germany. German traders have been flourishing in all 
those countries. The adaptability of the Germans to life in Spanish- 
speaking countries has been remarkable. Trade had developed 
between Germany and Latin America to a notable degree before the 
war. There were indications that the United States would be badly 
beaten in the contest for trade in this hemisphere. 

Now Germany is piling up strong barriers against the resumption 
of this trade after the war. A treaty of general peace will theoretically 
tear down all barriers, it is true, but actually they will remain if the 
deep feeling of distrust of German good faith is not removed. This 
distrust of Germany has been intensified by the abhorrence with which 
civilization has witnessed German barbarities. Continued acts of 
savagery, perpetrated scientifically in cold blood by direction of 
the German government, have so indelibly stamped themselves upon 
the consciousness of mankind that years must elapse before the 
impression is dimmed. 

The republics of the New World are not turning against Germany 
for the sake of throwing trade to the United States. If American 
traders wish this business they must work for it. They are afforded 
exceptional opportunities, however, and if the United States govern- 
ment will pursue an enlightened commercial policy in the midst of 
war the nation will be greatly benefited by having its foreign trade 
stimulated and entrenched. The expansion of this trade means 
greater prosperity, which in turn means added resources for meeting 
the expenses of the war. It is incumbent upon the government to 
expand trade as a means of fertilizing the taxable resources of the 
country. 

[89] 



AN OPENING FOR STATESMANSHIP 

Never before have such splendid opportunities for statesmanship 
been unfolded before the eyes of Americans. The nations of the 
New World gladly range themselves alongside the United States, on 
the solid foundation of justice and liberty as outlined by President 
Wilson. These nations are actuated by the spirit of independence 
and self-respect. The war induces them to combine their influence, 
and, if necessary, their physical strength, in the common cause of 
liberty and self-government. As the leader in this movement the 
United States enjoys a proud and honorable position, which is cheer- 
fully acknowledged by the sister republics. 

Upon the foundation of mutual defense against the menace of 
absolutism, mutual aspirations for independent development under 
republican self-government and mutual respect for each other's rights, 
the United States can help to build an indestructible union of the 
New World. This union of republics ought to be the greatest force 
in the world for maintaining just peace among men. It could properly 
cooperate with other leagues of nations in other portions of the 
globe. Within its own boundaries it could foster commerce and 
intellectual intercourse from Canada to Cape Horn, with lasting 
benefit to every nation. Thus, through Germany's blind sacrifice 
of her trade advantages and her insane acts of barbarism, the New 
World may find a better and quicker road to prosperity and peace. 
The way is open for wonderful pioneering achievements by statesmen 
in the two Americas. 



[90] 



Friday, October 12, 1917 

The Plans of the Enemy 

THE forthcoming visit of Emperor William to Sofia to confer 
with the ruling spirits of the Balkans has already given rise 
to reports that new peace schemes are being concocted, in 
which Turkey, Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary are to act as stalking- 
horses for Germany. At the same time a leading Italian writer 
reminds the United States that Austria is even more reactionary than 
Germany, and bases its oppression of subject peoples on the doctrine 
of the divine right of kings. He asks the United States to take a hand 
in smashing the Austrian system, as the most effective means of 
making Europe and the world safe for democracy. 

Meanwhile Chancellor Michaelis and Foreign Minister Kuehl- 
mann fiercely declare that Alsace-Lorraine is not a debatable ques- 
tion. They suggest that everything else can be adjusted by negotia- 
tion, but that France's insistence upon the disannexation of Alsace and 
Lorraine from Germany can be answered only by the word No. So 
long as a German ( lives to handle a gun, says Kuehlmann, German 
territory will not be surrendered. 

The speeches of these German leaders are of value only as show- 
ing more clearly than ever to Americans that there is only one duty 
before them — the duty of victory. In a sense it is idle for the Germans 
to discuss peace or how it will be achieved. In another sense the 
discussion is profitable, for it discloses to Germany's enemies that 
they are on the right track when they aim at the disarming of the 
outlaw. Every utterance by German leaders reveals the innate evil 
of the German system. Its purpose is foul; its existence is a menace 
to the life of honorable governments; its intention to destroy is as 
tenacious as its intention to survive, and it can be made innocuous 
only by ending its existence. 

The conviction is widespread among thoughtful Americans that 
the upsetting of the Hohenzollern dynasty will not insure peace for 
Europe or America, if the Hapsburg dynasty is permitted to survive 
and the German empire is merely forced to change its rulers. The 
belief is growing that only the extirpation of the "divine right" system 
will make self-government secure among the nations. Certainly 
when the "divine right" doctrine is fortified by military power, there 
can be no compromise. Either it must be destroyed or it will destroy 
democracy. 

r 91 1 



THE PLANS OF THE ENEMY 

The question that will inevitably confront the United States is 
whether it will be satisfied with a compromise for the sake of tem- 
porary peace, or whether it will stand firmly with the allied nations 
until the dark force that threatens free men has been wiped from the 
earth. Too many thoughtless Americans think only of peace, as a 
relief from hardship. If Germany were to ask for an armistice they 
would be gullible enough to favor it, and a few hypocritical words of 
apology from Germany would be accepted by them as squaring 
accounts. 

Germany still hopes to deceive the United States into making a 
deceptive and ruinous peace. First may come a proposition for an 
armistice. Germany may thrust her allies forward, to ask for a 
better understanding with the United States. Sops will be thrown 
out as inducements to discuss peace. Every effort will be made to 
avoid a decisive struggle with the United States, which could only 
end in the downfall of the German system. 

Obviously the United States should class Germany's allies as 
enemies. No faith should be placed in anything that Germany or her 
allies may say, for the truth is not in them. The only communica- 
tion with the enemy should be by shot and shell until the enemy is 
incapable of maintaining such communication further. Then the 
United States and the allies can safely make peace. 



192] 



Wednesday, October 24, 1917 

Need of an Allied War Council 

NEXT in importance to the delivery of America's strength in 
Europe is the order of its delivery. The shipping problem, in 
all its bearings, is all important, and upon its solution depends 
America's success and probably the fate of civilization. Assuming 
that the problem will be solved correctly and betimes, so that America 
will not be cut off from Europe, the next task to be accomplished is 
the organization of the system of supply so that the allies shall defeat 
Germany decisively and in the shortest possible time. 

At present no organization of the allies exists whereby the needs 
of the armies at the front are met by the resources of America accord- 
ing to the order of urgency or in pursuance of the general military 
plans. There is no war council. Every member of the coalition comes 
to America and presents its demands, quite independently of the 
others, and without regard to the needs of the others. Italy asks for 
coal, and so does France. Britain wants steel, and so does France. 
An acute shortage of wheat exists in France, and also in Italy. 

Without any exact knowledge of the situation, the war industries 
board tries to meet the demands of the allies for war supplies, and 
when there is not enough at the moment they arbitrarily scale down 
the requisitions, not knowing whether their adjustments meet actual 
conditions or whether they are condemning tens of thousands of sol- 
diers to ammunition shortage or entire cities to a food famine. 

Mr. Lloyd George remarks that the forthcoming interallied con- 
ference at Paris will be the most important ever held, and that it will 
determine the ultimate issue of the war. He spoke of the appearance 
of American and Russian delegates at the conference. 

If this conference does not provide for a better system of har- 
monizing supply and demand according to the general military plans 
of the entire alliance against Germany, it will fail in its duty and will 
not be able to determine the ultimate issue of the war. The first 
duty now is to concentrate the allied strength ; to transform scattered 
resources into military power, and then to drive that power forward 
at the point desired. 

The enemy has a war council. His scattered resources were long 
ago transformed into military power. His allies work in perfect 

f95] 



NEED OF AN ALLIED WAR COUNCIL 

harmony. Each is dealt with according to the general plan, which 
takes into account their resources and their needs. The grand military 
plan, the plan to defeat the allies, is not a mere burning desire, but a 
worked-out scheme formulated by men in close consultation, with 
power to enforce their orders. The war council meets whenever and 
wherever it pleases, and it changes the grand plan in any part accord- 
ing to the needs of the hour. 

Until the allies have such a council, or something approaching it, 
they need not expect to obtain such cooperation among themselves 
as will defeat the Teutons. Miracles of valor may be performed, and 
man for man the allied armies may outclass the enemy in every 
respect, and yet the war may be lost behind the battle fronts through 
lack of cooperation. The war must be fought as a whole at the same 
time. That is, the ships must be on hand to transport men and 
supplies; the allies must work together; each army must be on hand; 
the food must be there; the munitions must be at the front; the 
navies must cooperate; the finances must be looked after. It will not 
do to have nearly everything ready in 1918 and then lose because 
something essential could not be made ready until 1919, six months 
after Germany had won the war. 

The allies at their conference should not merely discuss the ulti- 
mate purpose, but the present methods. They should provide for the 
establishment of a war council, or its equivalent, to have charge of 
the work of mapping out a plan to defeat Germany, and with authority 
to commit the allied governments to the execution of the plan. Every 
allied government should be represented in the conference that creates 
this war council. 



[96] 



Saturday, October 27, 1917 

Why the War May Be Prolonged 

SO FAR as a general view of the horizon extends from Washing- 
l ton, all is going well with and for America. The success of the 
liberty loan and the assurance that redoubled efforts will be 
made to assist Admiral Capps in the all-important work of creating 
a merchant fleet are the outstanding features of the day's news. 

Mr. Lloyd George said a day or two ago that he had scanned the 
horizon from London and found the signs favorable to the allies. He 
did not see an early end of the war. Nor is any sign visible from 
Washington which might indicate the war's end. But the tendency 
toward ultimate victory is plainly visible in the transformation of 
this continent into a war camp. 

Face to face, trained and stripped, the superiority of the United 
States over Germany would be such as to arouse feelings of pity and 
contempt for the Teuton in trying to face America in battle. 

The task is to bring the two gladiators face to face, trained and 
stripped. The United States must accomplish in a few months what 
Germany has taken 40 years to accomplish ; that is, to train and strip 
ready for the finish fight. It is extremely difficult to bring the ene- 
mies face to face, to say nothing of bringing the United States into 
the contest properly trained. The fight must take place a long way 
from America, and America must do all the hauling, with the enemy 
waylaying every ship. 

But who doubts the outcome? Compare American with German, 
intellect, energy, organizing ability, resources, devotion, patriotism 
and incentive to victory. Are Americans lacking? Is their cause 
worth fighting for? Are they able to assemble and organize their 
strength ? 

These questions answer themselves to the satisfaction of Amer- 
icans. But there are other questions upon which Americans do not 
agree in their answers. Is Germany inherently sound and able to 
continue the war? Do Germans believe their cause is just? Are they 
devoted to their government and their rulers? Are they able to get 
sufficient food? Can Germany hold its allies in line? Does Ger- 
many, fighting on the edge of her own territories, enjoy a strategical 
advantage over the United States which may prolong the war for a 
long time? 

[97] 



WHY THE WAR MAY BE PROLONGED 

The answers to these questions by Americans carry the impres- 
sion, as a rule, that the enemy is not fully understood and is under- 
estimated. The average American seems to cherish the conviction 
that the war will end soon, somehow, with easy victory. The idea 
that the United States will transform itself into a steel-clad Hercules, 
using every resource from Maine to California for the sole purpose 
of beating down a terrible antagonist; that peace habits and private 
matters must be thrust aside by practically every man in the country ; 
that all incomes shall go straight into the Treasury and all muscle 
into war work — this is a strange idea, rejected by most Americans. 

In spite of all that has been said so eloquently by liberty loan 
speakers, very few Americans seem to understand the grim fact that 
they have entered upon a new phase of their lives, in which they must 
be ready to give all, including life itself, to insure the safety and 
liberty of the country and their own flesh and blood. 

It is not the outcome of the final decisive struggle between the 
United States and Germany that is in doubt — that cannot be doubtful 
while Americans constitute a free nation. It is the length of the war 
that is in doubt, caused by the inability of the average intellect to 
appreciate the fact that the war marks a crisis in the life of every 
man, woman and child in the United States. When the average man 
in America begins to feel the reality of the war as sharply as the 
average man in Germany feels it, America's tremendous force will 
exert itself and the end of the war will be in sight. 



[98] 



Tuesday, October 30, 1917 

Italy's Fight Our Fight 

ITALY is staggering under the shock of a tremendous Teuton 
assault, which represents a force in some respects more formidable 
than that which shattered itself against ever-glorious Verdun. In 
addition to the entire Austrian army, at least 700,000 Germans are 
massed against Italy, besides divisions of Bulgarians and Turks. 

Italy could have withstood this thrust and remained on recovered 
territory if she had been well supplied with ammunition and war 
materials. Lacking in ammunition, her armies were compelled to fall 
back. Unfortunately, a small portion of the army lost its head and 
the general staff disclosed the fact, thereby giving an excuse for an 
assertion by enemies that the Italian soldiers would not face first- 
class fighting men. This assertion is disproved by the heroic achieve- 
ments of the Italian armies from the moment the war began. It is 
belied by the history of Italy. 

The allies, including the United States, share in the reverse that 
now threatens Italy. They could have done more for Italy, which 
asked for nothing that was not reasonable. 

Germany is striking down one after another every enemy that 
can be caught unprepared and detached from its allies. By corrupting 
the corruptible and misleading the gullible, Germany's propaganda 
prepares the ground for savage military attacks. That is what is 
going on now in Italy. The allies of Italy are just as vitally con- 
cerned as though the soil of Italy were their own soil. They cannot 
escape the effects of the campaign on the Italo-Austrian border. 

The theory that regards Germany as an enemy only on the 
western front is nothing but madness. The western front is only an 
accident of the collision between huge enemy forces. Germany is the 
enemy of the United States everywhere in the world, if she is an 
enemy on the western front. If she can gain victories elsewhere which 
make the western front untenable or unimportant she will do so. The 
American troops in the trenches may find themselves more remote 
from the critical point of collision than if they were in California. 
The war may be won and lost without any action whatever by 
American forces on the western front. 

The allies that are trying to hold the Huns back are defending 
the hearthstones of America. Why is not this fact more clearly under- 

[99] 



ITALY'S FIGHT OUR FIGHT 

stood by the American authorities? Why is there such persistence 
upon transferring American troops and immense stores of supplies 
for American troops occupying unimportant places, when armies 
actually fighting the Teutons are forced to retire for lack of supplies? 
Is it supposed that the enemy must conform to the wishes of the allies? 
Must he agree to abandon an opportunity to win the war elsewhere 
and stand patiently waiting on the western front in order that the 
allies, all in their own good time, may hurl themselves at him from 
a point they have chosen? 

A reverse to Italy is a reverse to America. A shortage of muni- 
tions and coal in Italy, if it can be prevented by the United States, 
is a military blunder beyond pardon. England and France also are 
dependent upon Italy as it is dependent upon them. Italy's collapse 
would mean instantaneous peril to the British empire in Egypt and 
India, as well as peril to France because of a threatened invasion 
from Piedmont. The British and French fleets would find the Mediter- 
ranean hard to hold if the Adriatic should be opened to U-boats. 

From every possible point of view it is the evident duty of all the 
allies to aid Italy to the limit of their abilities, instantly and without 
red tape. 



[100] 



Wednesday, October 31, 1917 
Allies Must Have Better Teamwork 

EVIDENTLY the first duty of the allies is to secure better co- 
operation. The repetition of blunders at this stage of the war 
prolongs the struggle and increases the blood and money cost. 
The allies cannot expect to win the war if they fail to organize for 
victory. Their resources are vastly superior to the enemy's. They 
have right on their side. They have the advantage of ocean com- 
merce, which helps to pay the cost of the war. But without organiza- 
tion and more efficient teamwork they will not succeed in defeating 
the Teutons. 

If the interallied conference to begin at Paris November 15 does 
not take into consideration the close cooperation between the United 
States and the allies, for the purpose of installing a system for the 
most prompt delivery and effective use of America's resources, it will 
be blind to the future and deaf to the cry that goes up from every 
battle front. 

Secretary McAdoo, on President Wilson's approval, asked the 
allies last July to organize a system in Europe whereby requisitions 
upon the United States might be considered, harmonized and adapted 
to the greatest needs of the allies, both as to destination and as to 
order of delivery. The allies have not done this, although their repre- 
sentatives in the United States have urgently requested such action. 
Lord Northcliffe in his interview in The Post of yesterday referred 
to this lack of teamwork. "As to the general situation in regard to 
the wise utilization by the allies of the vast resources of the United 
States," said Lord Northcliffe, "I am anxious lest careless and indis- 
criminate demands may not result in the tragedy of their efficiency 
being reduced 50 per cent by waste and overlapping." 

The allies cannot reduce their efficiency 50 per cent and win the 
war. They must increase their efficiency in order to win. They must 
not continue the scramble for American supplies and American money 
as they have been doing. Their needs must be carefully considered 
by a joint commission or other authority before they are presented to 
the United States government. The United States, being compelled 
to act upon the allies' demands without sufficient information, has 
made mistakes which have injured the allies and benefited the enemy. 
Undoubtedly the Italian situation would not have been so bad if a 

[101] 



AJ_1 : IBTtBI IAMWOEK 

mm JHBJnw n sented to the Unitec SM ax months 

mm im-i i i maintain its position. 

vuring more than its 

member- I coalition. 

doing so - *-hat which : - .-taken 

t is as trub to France and Great 

_"--... American representati" - I the Paris 

nly. They should im allies 

the production and del 
:ier money, mtmitions or food. America cannot accoin- 

i organization with power 

"ifii and •■ : one ally with the needs of all 

■■ - • 2 mountains of supplies for its own 

nd is bun I • r men who are not needed 

• " while t; • :' supplies and 

". ■ Americans are 
• want," says Lord Northcliffe. 

."■.•;■ ar one of the allies. His 

opinion on 1 ".on of the d ; \ 

■ 

■ among the a] Superior num- 

■rces mean i \ 'art consolidated and 

Bed 



P02] 



Tw Great Outstanding Fa ts 

ITALY'S a dversi t y thrus:s forward - ending : - 

which the allies and the United Slates -vill do well to recogniie 

forthwith. 

Gist is Tlies have no central directing brain. 

The second is that the United States 
sufficiently .liver the sb Shceai 

strength which, combined with the allied strengti is :....- 
at the enemy. 

T [ unified dire I forces has been mani- 

fest ever since the gai Mis r mis 

until the time has . . as aniftol afford ta 

farther inistak. - talgai 

ted, failed topi 
comb Russia with intrigue, and finally failed to give It 
port tl . .: -'. e ..-'.v. I for six n ths ag 

1: is : lies shall att- 

ests and place the rations 

under one centra] staff. Germany must 
isolate and annihilate the alhi ds ' - 

allies, no loss than tl sn are bound to combine in . 

union, for if the smaller allies are 
must eventually fa nemy far stronger than 

present. 

Every time German; - in enemy nati - 

of the occupied territory. At this n 
the lash of slave labor millions of V Belgians 

manians, Serbians. Lithuanians, Etui - C&echs 3 

Armenians and Greeks. These ui bs rking 

under the lash. Male and female, if a 
to produce food for the German armies 
began Germany has added immense ten 
lation attached have become cheap soui - ppty< 

Every soldier belonging to the Teuton all-.. \us- 

trian. Hungarian, Bulgarian and Turk- -is under the din 
Hindenburg and 1 udendorff. No field marshal Htince- 

I 103 1 



TWO GREAT OUTSTANDING FACTS 

ling of any empire or kingdom can interfere with the orders of the 
men who are directing the German campaigns. 

On the allied side, no field marshal or general can execute any 
plan of campaign without danger of constant interference from above 
and below, to say nothing of the interference of the enemy. The 
allied nations exchange fine compliments, but they do not unre- 
servedly act in concert. Every cabinet in the allied governments 
knows that this statement is literally true. The Washington Post 
does not make this statement idly, or for the sake of alarming unoffi- 
cial readers. It possesses facts which are known to all the govern- 
ments, and which therefore need not be published. In view of these 
facts, and speaking in behalf of the public that is not in possession of 
the facts, The Post urges the great allies to take instant order for the 
better consolidation and direction of their efforts. 

As to the lack of thorough organization in the United States, we 
believe it has become apparent, through Italy's reverse, that the 
Teutons are stronger than Americans have supposed; that the task 
of defeating Germany is greater than the average American has had 
in mind, and that the resources of the United States for war purposes 
must be developed beyond the plans thus far formulated. There 
must be at least 500,000 men put to work building ships, and they 
must work as reliably as soldiers stand guard in the trenches. There 
must be no more uncertainty in this respect. If the workers cannot 
be depended upon to work without wage agitations and sudden whole- 
sale quitting, then there must be conscription of men for work as 
there has been conscription of men for fighting. They must get into 
uniform and go under military discipline, with the military penalty 
for desertion or mutiny. 

This proposition is novel and offensive to Americans. But it is 
the dire alternative that looms directly ahead. The ships must be 
built. The soldiers must be supplied. The war must be won. If 
Americans behind the lines will not serve as volunteers in the army 
of workers, they must be drafted. This means all able-bodied men, 
without regard to present occupation. 



I 104 



Wednesday, November 14, 1917 
Finally Getting Together 

AFTER 40 months of war, in which they have permitted the 
J^\ enemy to administer death blows to four nations and stagger- 
ing strokes to three others, the allies are concentrating their 
best intellects upon the problem of winning the war. That which 
should have been done months ago as a matter of military advantage 
is now to be undertaken as a matter of dire necessity for self-preser- 
vation. 

The allied nations that are not disabled are to concentrate their 
energies and act as one against the enemy. 

Neither Mr. Lloyd George nor President Wilson wastes any tears 
over spilt milk, but each makes it unmistakably clear that the allies 
dare not make any more prime blunders, such as those which cost 
the life of Serbia, Montenegro and Roumania, disemboweled Russia, 
and sent Italy reeling backward. 

Mr. Lloyd George speaks of the haste with which Great Britain 
and France were compelled to rush to the aid of Italy, without having 
time to consult the United States or Russia. It was because Great 
Britain and France were just as much in danger as Italy that the two 
great allies were spurred to action that should have been taken 
long ago. 

President Wilson refers to Germany's steady progress in the 
formation of a gigantic middle European empire — a process that has 
been mightily aided by the failure of the allies to act in concert. 
Continued failure will mean the accomplishment of German aims. 

The civilized world now faces the naked alternative of composing 
its differences or passing under the German yoke. The British 
empire, the French republic, the United States of America and the 
others are unable singly to check the formation of the greater German 
empire. Once formed, that empire will easily destroy any or all of 
these nations unless they immediately combine and act as one. 

The civilized nations must throw away envy and suspicion. 
They must cast their resources into a common pool. They must line 
up their armies under a single command. This command must have 
absolute military control, on every battle front, and it must have 
both the ability and the power to make and execute new plans with- 
out notice. 

[105] 



FINALLY GETTING TOGETHER 

Germany is lying in wait and pouncing upon and destroying one 
enemy nation after another. The allies have seen this fatal process 
working since the German hordes first burst into Belgium. It was 
an incredible thing, a monstrous and blasphemous affront to heaven 
itself — but it was a fact. Now, after 40 months spent in incredulous 
wonderment and pitifully improvised defense, civilization is waking 
to its danger. 

There is much to be done. It can be done, and it will be done 
because it must be done. The allies must and will lay aside their 
differences. They must and will combine their strength and place it 
under a single directing head. The United States, suspicious of "Euro- 
pean entanglements," must and will agree never to make separate 
peace with the enemy of civilization. 

Every able-bodied man and woman in the United States must 
be enrolled for service. Germany enrolled her men and women long 
ago. 

The worker in a war industry is as truly a fighting man as the 
soldier at the front. He must get into the uniform and obey his 
superior officers. 



[106] 






Tuesday, November 20, 1917 
Organization, Allied and Domestic 

TWO great tasks evidently must be accomplished before the 
nations fighting Germany can expect to win the war. One is 
the creation of a supreme war council with power to direct the 
strategy of the war. The other is the organization of the human and 
material resources of the United States. 

The allied nations are fumbling with the question of a supreme 
council. The British public is apprehensive, fearing that the granting 
of large powers to a council will tie the hands of the British govern- 
ment or interfere with British military or naval operations. No 
doubt the American public will be apprehensive, also, when it comes 
face to face with the proposition that an allied council shall control 
the fate of the American armies in Europe. 

Apprehension or no apprehension, the supreme council will be 
created. The allies will hang together or be defeated separately. 
They must soon take their choice. 

There is no basis for the fear that the allied governments will 
have their hands tied by the supreme war council. The governments 
will name the delegates to the council. They are the creators, and they 
can uncreate. It is idle to suppose that the war council will take 
over all the powers of government. The council should be confined 
strictly to the duty of directing the strategy of the allied forces. 
Commanders in the field and at sea would still be the active directors 
of all battle tactics. But instead of fighting possibly at cross pur- 
poses, they would fight in pursuance of general plans looking to 
definite results. 

A supreme war council is so logical, so necessary to success, and 
so indispensable a shield against disaster that it will surely come into 
existence. If not immediately, then later, after the allies have suffered 
further unnecessary reverses. 

As for domestic organization, it is coming, too. The tightening 
of the lines is shown in the President's proclamation regarding enemy 
aliens. This proclamation should have been issued in April, but it 
is better now than never. Enemy aliens should have been excluded 
from the District of Columbia from the date of the declaration of 
war. They have gained much valuable information which is now in 
the hands of the German general staff. 

[107] 



ORGANIZATION, ALLIED AND DOMESTIC 

The Washington Post last April urged the exclusion of enemy 
aliens from the District of Columbia. It now suggests that the United 
States lose no time in declaring a state of war with Austria-Hungary, 
to be followed by the internment of Austrian and Hungarian enemies. 
The Post further suggests that the government exclude all enemy 
aliens from all ports and harbors of the United States. All aliens 
who become public charges because of this order should be interned 
and fed at the expense of the government, which can collect its bill 
from Germany and Austria after the war. 

The allies cannot win without the financial and material help 
of the United States, delivered most effectively. Italy must be in- 
cluded as an ally. It is futile now to speak of the help that should 
have been given to Italy last spring and summer, when she pleaded 
for steel from Pennsylvania and coal from Hampton Roads and was 
denied. The resources of this country must be organized on a war 
basis. Men must get coal out of the ground in immensely greater 
quantities than at present, and the steel mills must turn out more 
steel. The railroads are mishandled because of the lack of a single 
directing brain. A director of transportation must be appointed, to 
be at the President's elbow and in close cooperation with the Presi- 
dent's other aids having charge of food, fuel, the army, the navy, the 
air fleet, and other war activities. 

Strong, young, confident and opulent as the United States is, with 
resources of stupendous potential strength, this nation cannot expect 
to defeat the scientific German power until these resources are organ- 
ized for warfare. The most stubborn obstacle to overcome is the 
inability of many Americans to understand that it is unsafe to cling 
to the methods that prevailed during peace. They are trying to 
make this war a side issue, and to that extent they are unconsciously 
assisting Germany. 



1108] 



Wednesday, November 21, 1917 

The Truth as an Aid of the Allies 

FRANCE, under the lion-hearted Clemenceau, abolishes the cen- 
sorship and squares away for another campaign against the 
enemy. May it be victorious! 

What is a censorship but suppression of the truth? What is the 
reason that compels the allies to create a general war council? It is 
lack of information. If the allies had been fully informed concerning 
Italy the enemy would not have broken through. 

Under censorship suspicion thrives, dissension develops and fail- 
ure results. Ignorance of what our allies are doing is fully as danger- 
ous as ignorance of what the enemy is doing. There should be no 
ignorance in either case. The full light of truth should illuminate 
the war. All that need be suppressed is information regarding mili- 
tary movements and plans. 

The French censorship went to ridiculous extremes, not only 
imposing a tax upon the French government and impairing the moral 
courage of the French people and army, but encouraging the growth 
of Boloism. The people, kept in ignorance, believed the worst. The 
army, kept in ignorance, fought literally in the dark. The enemy, 
secure against exposure, diligently made the most of the advantage 
given him by the censorship. 

Premier Clemenceau sweeps this all away. He is on the trail of 
the traitors, neutral conspirators, and enemy spies who have infested 
France and its borders. He gives the press the opportunity to 
enlighten the French people and the French army. Immediately 
there is marked recovery of spirit and renewed determination to win. 

The British censorship remains entirely too strict. It conceals 
facts which would be of great value to all the allies and correspond- 
ingly damaging to Germany. Some of the strongest men in England 
denounce the censorship as "stupid." It is not for Americans to 
make offensive criticism, but frank speaking is certainly timely, in 
view of the fact that the British censorship directly affects America's 
knowledge of its own share in the war. 

As for the American censorship, it is damaging only so far as it is 
effective. There is a careful concealment of facts which are perfectly 
well known in Germany. One example is the strict silence enjoined 

[109] 



THE TRUTH AS AN AID OF THE ALLIES 

regarding the extensive aviation preparations by the United States in 
southern France. It would encourage Americans to know that thou- 
sands of keen young Americans are training there and showing won- 
derful ability in actual battle conditions. But hardly a word has been 
published in this country concerning this work, although the German 
newspapers discuss fully the size and scope of the American aviation 
developments in France. Where is the advantage in keeping Amer- 
icans in ignorance? 

It now appears that the United States navy has accomplished 
glorious deeds in fighting submarines. Why are not the facts pub- 
lished? Why are the names of American heroes concealed? Is Ger- 
many dealt a blow by keeping the American people in the dark regard- 
ing the achievements of their boys at the front? That is a poor 
method of stimulating patriotism. 

One frank, truthful, unelaborated statement of American heroism 
at sea or at the front, giving names, would be worth a ton of hysterical 
falsetto appeals to the fears of Americans. The people of this country 
are not to be scared into patriotic acts, but they can be thrilled into 
them with magic quickness by the recital of a single act of heroism 
under the Stars and Stripes. 

Mr. Lloyd George is letting the truth reach the light in England. 
His ten words announcing the destruction of five submarines were 
worth more than the remainder of his speech. Clemenceau is chasing 
away the gloom in France by letting the truth be published broadcast. 
The United States government should make it a settled policy to give 
the public the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. 



[ no 



Thursday, November 22, 1917 
A Great Allied Weapon — Truth 

THE civilized world rejoices this morning in the staggering blow 
administered to Germany by Field Marshal Haig and the gal- 
lant British army. Man for man, the Britishers are mastering 
the Germans and forcing them out of France and Belgium. That fact 
overshadows every other military fact connected with this war. It is 
the shadow of the coming great event — the smashing of the German 
power. All praise to the British generals, officers and men, and special 
honor to Gen. Byng! 

But what did Mr. Lloyd George mean when he said this in his 
speech in the House of Commons: 

"Policy and strategy are inextricably interwoven. Let them 
work together. The men who are trying to separate them, to divide 
them and foster disunion, are traitors to their country." 

And what the application of Mr. George's further statement that 
all talk of easterners and westerners was "utter balderdash"? He 
continued: 

"The field is north, south, east and west, and our business is to 
bring pressure upon the enemy from every point of the compass and 
inflict hurt upon him wherever we can." 

As we see it, the premier of Great Britain makes the point that 
Germany is the enemy of the allies everywhere, and not merely on 
the western front. He means that the allies should fight Germany 
everywhere with policy as well as with strategy — with brains as well 
as with bullets. He expresses in one way what Lord Northcliffe 
expressed in another when he insisted that the allies were making a 
mistake in not carrying on a strong propaganda in Russia, Italy and 
elsewhere to counteract German propaganda. 

Why should the allies permit Germany to disable an entire nation 
with falsehoods, when equally vigorous propaganda of the truth would 
save that nation? Why should Russia be bamboozled by Germany 
while the allied nations look on helplessly? Have they no truth with 
which to offset Germany's lies? Is not the right on their side? Are 
they afraid to tell the truth? Are they lacking in the ability or 
means required to organize and maintain a propaganda? 

Elihu Root and his colleagues went to Russia, and so far as their 
voices reached they did splendid work. But their voices were like 

[llll 



A GREAT ALLIED WEAPON— TRUTH 

the wail of an infant against the roar of an ocean gale. For every 
word of truth uttered by the Americans, German agents circulated a 
thousand lies. Russians who had been in the United States were 
bribed by Germans to follow Mr. Root's party and utter falsehoods 
concerning the United States and its war aims. 

If the allied governments had organized a truth propaganda in 
Russia, reaching every community, Russia would now be a dangerous 
foe of Germany, and the British victory would have double signifi- 
cance. Italy would not now be overrun if the truth had been circu- 
lated in Russia. 

When will the great allies recognize the simple but important fact 
that truth is a wonderful weapon, a terrible weapon, when vigorously 
used? When will they have intelligence enough to seize upon the 
hint given by their enemy? If Germany can work such marvels with 
nothing better than falsehoods, what cannot the allies accomplish 
with the truth? If Germany has spent millions on Russian propa- 
ganda, the allies would do well to spend tens of millions. The recla- 
mation of Russia, the restoration of the sanity of that great nation, 
would be cheap at $100,000,000. 

There seems to be a feeling in allied nations that the word 
"propaganda" is unclean. German propaganda is unclean, it is true, 
but a propaganda of truth is as just and honorable and necessary as 
the sending of an army to France. The army goes to carry the truth ; 
to cause right to prevail over wrong. The same mission should be 
undertaken by allied propagandists in Russia, Italy, Turkey and 
Mexico, to say nothing of other countries. 

Without any apology whatever, the allied governments should 
allot $100,000,000 or more to an active propaganda. Let them use 
the truth, that marvelous weapon that strikes down tyrants and scat- 
ters armies like chaff. 



[112] 



Sunday, November 25, 1917 

Let Heroic Acts Be Rewarded 

LIEUT. GEN. BYNG won a victory over the Germans near Csan- 
_j brai early last week, and two days later the British government 
promoted him to the full grade of general. 

Two American lieutenant commanders in command of destroyers 
recently displayed exceptional bravery and skill in battling subma- 
rines. These officers and several members of their crews were highly 
praised by the British government, which offered to confer decorations 
upon them. 

The Navy Department did not make any mention of the bravery 
of its naval officers and enlisted men until the facts were disclosed in 
Great Britain. There is no suggestion that the Americans will be 
promoted or rewarded by their government. The decorations con- 
ferred by Great Britain cannot be accepted without the consent of 
Congress. 

Apparently it is the policy of the War and Navy departments to 
withhold the names of Americans performing feats of heroism in this 
war. With the exception of the list headed by Lieut. Comdrs. Blakely 
and Neal (all honor to them!) no names have been mentioned except 
those included in the casualty lists. 

So far as the public is informed, there will be no promotion of 
the officers and men of the United States navy who destroyed German 
submarines; or if promotion should come, it will be long delayed, and 
apparently granted reluctantly. 

The theory governing this action seems to be that the mention 
of names would reveal military secrets. 

The men directing the military and naval policy of the United 
States are conscientious, and no criticism should be made of any 
well-planned rule on their part which will guard military secrets. But 
if it is to be their rule that acts of heroism shall be concealed, that 
heroic Americans shall not receive public acknowledgment of their 
achievements and prompt promotion and other rewards, then we 
believe that the public will enter a vigorous and effective protest. 

The publication of the names of American heroes on land and 
sea cannot by any stretch of caution be proved injudicious. There is 
no revelation of military secrets in publishing names and conferring 

[113] 



LET HEROIC ACTS BE REWARDED 

rewards. On the contrary, there is a direct military benefit in encour- 
aging the spirit of daring and emulation of heroic deeds. The love of 
praise, the spirit of rivalry in honorable achievement, and the desire 
for advancement are all the breath of life to a soldier. Today, as 
always, the true soldier "seeks the bubble reputation even at the 
cannon's mouth." 

With a few exceptions, the United States has not been prompt 
and liberal in rewarding its heroic defenders. Great Britain pursues 
a better policy, and never encounters any objections from the people 
when it rewards ability and heroism. The granting of medals in the 
United States is so slow that the inspiration to men in the army and 
navy is lost. Splendid deeds that deserve singular rewards are classed 
with minor feats of valor, and usually both classes fail to receive 
recognition. 

The war will not be won by cultivating pessimism and despond- 
ency. There is no occasion for the concealment of heroism. Let 
heroic deeds be published, and let daring Americans be quickly and 
liberally rewarded. 



[114] 



Wednesday, November 28, 1917 
Why and How Germany Will Lose 
\S SOON as Germany has made a little further progress it is to 
J~\ be expected that she will make a determined effort to obtain 
peace. She would like to disable Italy further by taking 
Venice,, and she would prefer to restore Constantine to the Greek 
throne before asking the enemy for an armistice. But these are 
matters that can wait, if necessary. An armistice, to be followed 
by peace negotiations, is becoming more important to Germany than 
any single military move. 

Germany occupies immense areas of enemy territory. She can 
afford to make peace on the basis of liberal concessions. She cannot 
afford to make her war indefinitely, with an enemy of superior 
strength about to take the field. Russia's collapse aids Germany in 
the way of relief, but it does not restore life to dead men or increase 
the capacity of German war industries. Germany faces a struggle 
with an enemy that can outbuild, outgun, outfly, and outspend her; 
an enemy that is free to combine on land and sea with the enemies 
already in the field; an enemy that cannot be kept off the seas. There 
is no increase of German strength to offset this increase of enemy 
power. 

As the power of Germany's enemies increases through activity in 
America and the concentration of effort in the allied command, Ger- 
many's power diminishes by such costly excursions as the drive into 
Italy. Germany has lost many thousand men, and stands to lose 
tens of thousands in trying to hold Yenetia. Was it a good bargain 
to gain that territory and lose those men? Germany thought so, for 
the sake of holding Austria in line. But Germany did not count 
upon the steady and perhaps ruinous loss that will result from trying 
to hold what she has taken. Italy has not disintegrated, as Germany 
hoped. The allies have not deserted Italy, as Germany hoped. On 
the contrary, the allied forces are organizing to stop all drives toward 
Venice and then to expel the Teuton from Italy. The Teutons have 
superior man power on that front at present, and hence they may 
take Venice, but the tables will turn as Italy and the allies pour in 
their forces. Germany will then be compelled to fight on the defensive, 
as in France, trying to cling to enemy territory and paying for the 
privilege by sacrificing her own men. 

[115] 



WHY AND HOW GERMANY WILL LOSE 

It is a losing game. The one flaw in Germany's scheme of con- 
quest is the human wastage. This cannot be checked or replaced in 
time to achieve victory. The allies have greater resources and are 
so organizing them that they will be practically as effective as Ger- 
many's. Much remains to be done, but the will behind the deed is 
fixed, which is the principal part of the task. Great Britain, France, 
Italy and America have clasped hands and resolved to fight to the 
death in defeating Germany. Their resources are being pooled and 
their efforts are being united. The end, therefore, is inevitable, 
although the time of the end is uncertain. 

Many Americans fondly cling to the notion that Germany will 
offer genuine and just peace by next spring out of fear of defeat by 
the United States. They feel sure that American war preparations 
are striking terror to the heart of Germany, and that, rather than 
face us, Germany will surrender. This would be a pleasant prospect 
if it were true, but there is nothing to show that it is true. The course 
of the war thus far compels the United States to assume that Ger- 
many will come to terms only when she is actually overpowered. 
Words, threats, possibilities, potentialities are nothing; actualities 
are everything. The United States and the other allies cannot count 
upon victory until their resources are organized and their actual 
physical fighting strength has been matched against Germany's and 
been found superior. 

Every hour lost in America by indulging in day-dreams of an 
easy early peace through German disorganization or recognition of 
inferiority is an hour that could be used to hasten victory. Every 
presumption that the war will end this winter or by next spring has 
a tendency to curtail adequate action and is therefore a mistake. 
Every minute wasted in listening to fraudulent peace overtures from 
Germany is a postponement of victory. 

Victory reposes in American genius and American muscle, Amer- 
ican machinery and American resources. Victory will be achieved, 
not by juggling with words or indulging in dreams, but by organizing 
the war strength of the United States and using it as a sledgehammer 
with which to smash the enemy. 



[116] 



Thursday, November 29, 1917 
The Allies' Duty Toward Russia 

TRAITORS to Russia have been sent by the traitorous gang 
now in temporary control at Petrograd to negotiate for an 
armistice with the Germans. Inquiries from the Russians 
elicited the statement from the German commanders that Germany 
was willing to negotiate for an armistice with all belligerents, where- 
upon an arrangement was made for conferences between the bolsheviki 
delegates and the German commanders, to begin December 2. 

In the meantime the would-be betrayers of Russia must reckon 
with the cossacks. Gen. Kaledine, chief of the Don cossacks, is in 
a position to control the bulk of the food supply. He can starve 
several of the armies on the western Russian front, if not all of them. 
These armies are more or less demoralized by German intrigue. They 
are unreliable, but fortunately they are unable to do much damage 
because of lack of supplies. They could surrender en masse to Ger- 
many, but the Germans do not want them — their appetites are too 
large. 

The allied nations now represented in conference at Paris can- 
not fail to act promptly in the Russian crisis. They cannot fail to 
extend assistance to the element in Russia that is trying to restore 
the nation to sanity and preserve its independence. One of the im- 
mediate problems is that of delivering supplies from the United States. 
Necessarily these deliveries have been held up on account of the 
danger of aiding a treacherous element which in turn might give 
American supplies to Germany. Yet it is not to be supposed that 
the United States will fail to assist Russia toward secure independ- 
ence. The supplies must go forward and reach the right parties; 
the German influence must be offset by the influence of freedom; by 
spiritual and material assistance the United States must stand by 
Russia in the hour of her peril. 

The allies are equally concerned in supporting Russia. It is 
the part of foolishness now to dismiss the Russian situation by whole- 
sale condemnation of the Russian people. Russia's heart is right. 
Human nature is not changed by the collapse of order in Russia. 
The people do not thirst for bondage to Germany. They are not try- 
ing to deceive or betray the allies. Concede that the Russian armies 
are honeycombed with socialistic fallacies and poisoned with German 
propaganda; at worst the soldiers are deluded, not depraved. Why 

[117] 



THE ALLIES' DUTY TOWARD RUSSIA 

not help them to get right, rather than convict them of willful treach- 
ery to their own liberties? It is lack of truth that afflicts them; 
fault of information. 

The conference at Paris ought to be concerned in organizing a 
gigantic propaganda in Russia, reaching every man in that immense 
country. It can be done in a fairly short time and with perfect 
success. It need not be feared that Russia will be committed to 
Germany before efforts to reclaim the Russians could prove effective. 
Russia will be in turmoil for years, in all probability; and so long as 
there is anarchy, Germany will profit and the allies will suffer. The 
people of Russia are not bolsheviki; less than 10 per cent, of them 
are represented by the bolsheviki. While the bolsheviki are endeavor- 
ing to ruin their country by ignorance and treason, the liberty-loving 
people of Russia are trying to establish a settled free government. 

The allied nations have a plain duty to perform. They must 
help Russia. They cannot safely neglect Russia, and they are 
morally bound to help her. Their interest and their honor coincide 
in pointing the way. 



[118] 



Saturday, December 1, 1917 

No Peace with the Assassin 

IT IS NOT surprising that a craven note in favor of dishonorable 
peace has been struck in Great Britain by a man who knows 
better. Similar pacifism has been voiced in this country by 
United States senators and others who know better. These mis- 
chievous utterances are to be expected from time to time, and a cer- 
tain portion of the people will be misled by them. Nevertheless, the 
civilized nations of the world will not be misled, nor will their efforts 
to rescue civilization be retarded by cowardly pleas for compro- 
mise with the world's outlaw. 

Lord Lansdowne has either suffered impairment of intelligence 
through lapse of time, or he speaks with deliberate intent to vex and 
obstruct the allied governments when he suggests a compromise with 
Germany which would leave its military power intact. It is more 
charitable to assume that the weight of years has affected Lord Lands- 
downe's judgment than it is to suggest that he seeks to impair his 
native country's effectiveness in fighting for survival. The latter 
suggestion is so abhorrent, so contrary to the pure impulse of a natural 
man, that it could only be made by an enemy of the personage men- 
tioned. 

It would be futile to discuss the Lansdowne letter with a view 
to clarifying opinion in England, and fortunately no such effort is 
necessary. England stands like a rock for self-preservation. She 
will not compromise with the assassin of nations. She has resolved 
that the war shall go on until either the German or the British empire 
is disabled and beaten, and civilization has proudly stepped to the 
side of England and will see her through to the end. 

For the benefit of Americans who might be misled by Lans- 
downe's specious argument, it is well to consider it. He suggests that 
the peace party in Germany would probably be greatly stimulated 
if it were known that the annihilation of Germany is not sought; that 
the allies do not seek to impose upon Germans a form of govern- 
ment against their choice; that there is no desire to deny to Germany 
her place among great commercial nations; that England, after the 
war, will examine the problems involved in the freedom of the seas; 
that England will join other nations in agreeing to settle interna- 
tional disputes by peaceful means. 

[119] 



NO PEACE WITH THE ASSASSIN 

Even if instant peace could be obtained by such a declaration, 
it would be folly, for the peace would be a mere breathing spell for 
Germany, enabling her to gather strength for another attack upon 
civilization. But peace is not attainable, now or later, by such a 
declaration, for the reason that Germany is the assailant, the would- 
be murderer of civilization. A statement by the half prostrate victim 
of a murderer that she does not contemplate the annihilation of her 
assassin is hardly calculated to stay his hand. 

Germany has torn up treaties and all obligations that bind one 
honorable nation or man to another. Germany has assassinated sev- 
eral nations already and is trying to kill others. Germany intends to 
murder her way to supreme power in the world. It is a deliberately 
prepared program in which the shedding of blood is adopted as the 
means of victory. Civilization cannot make peace with her own 
murderer. 

Lord Lansdowne tries to make it appear that he is in harmony 
with President Wilson. He quotes something that Mr. Wilson said, 
which does not bear upon the vital situation of today. For the sake 
of preventing any error among the allied representatives now as- 
sembled in France, as well as for the sake of giving Germany to 
understand how America stands, we hope President Wilson will re- 
pudiate utterly the insulting insinuation of Lansdowne. 



120 



Sunday, December 2, 1917 

Political Strategy in the War 

THE German war heads may fondly imagine that they are shap- 
ing the course of this war, but if all the truth were known it 
would be found that the issue rests in the hands of the men 
who have gathered at Paris. If they can employ their unquestioned 
abilities harmoniously, and if their respective governments will approve 
the agreements reached, an organized force greater than the enemy's 
will emerge and accomplish its necessary work. 

The conferees are working in groups, dealing with distinct 
branches of the war. Little is given out regarding the problems under 
consideration, and nothing whatever is divulged regarding the methods 
required to solve those problems. This is perfectly proper, and the 
people of the allied nations, whose fate hangs in the balance, are 
willing to rest in ignorance for the sake of lending greater efficiency 
to strategic efforts. 

Nevertheless the hope is expressed that the allied conference 
is not confining itself to military, naval, financial and economic 
strategy. There is a field occupied by Germany and worked with 
consummate energy and skill — the field of political strategy. The 
allies have almost wholly neglected this field. They grossly ne- 
glected it in Russia, and now they perceive that traitors and spies 
are trying, apparently with success, to betray the country to Germany. 

The masses in Russia know little or nothing of the size, strength, 
and purposes of the allied nations. The allies are far off, and their 
sympathy with true freedom in Russia seems to be a faint whisper 
if it is heard at all. The Germans, on the other hand, are affecting 
an open-hearted and generous spirit of conciliation which is deceiv- 
ing a great proportion of the Russian population. "Why not make 
peace?" these peasants and soldiers ask themselves. "The Germans 
offer to meet us half way." 

Throughout Central and South America the German propaganda 
is equally energetic and ingenious. It is active in China, in Mexico, 
in Canada and in Italy. If German intrigue is permitted to go un- 
checked in this hemisphere, the solidarity of American republics will 
be disrupted. It is quite conceivable that the Germans hope to range 
at least one American republic on their side. If this should be ac- 
complished, the world would witness the spectacle of the United 

[121] 



POLITICAL STRATEGY IN THE WAR 

States going to war against another American republic, in the name 
of democracy, and in vindication of the Monroe doctrine. 

Americans have comforted themselves with the thought that the 
extinction of the Hapsburg empire in Mexico marked the abandon- 
ment by any European power of any ambition to plant imperialism 
in this hemisphere. Yet Germany is now endeavoring to establish 
itself in the New World, by acquiring ascendancy over one or more 
of the governments of existing republics. 

The allied conference should take cognizance of the political 
offensives of Germany, and should devise a complete program of de- 
fense and counter attack in both' hemispheres. The battle is not alto- 
gether with war machinery on land and sea ; it is equally desperate and 
effective with unseen weapons. German propaganda has accomplished 
feats of enemy disintegration far more valuable to Germany than a 
succession of military victories. The first preparation for a German 
military victory, in fact, is a political propaganda such as that which 
demoralized the Italians. 

The allies cannot afford to be defeated in the political field. 
They must occupy this field, and work it with all their ability. They 
should start a counter propaganda in Turkey and Bulgaria and 
Austria-Hungary, with the object of disrupting the central alliance. 
There should be a vigorous allied propaganda in Italy for the purpose 
of arming the army and people of that nation with truth and forti- 
tude. In Mexico and South America the allies should spread the 
truth and the foreknowledge of allied victory. The war is every- 
where, in all nations, and it must be fought universally and by all 
civilized means until victory is achieved. 



[ 122 



Monday, December 3, 1917 

Congress and the War 

THE regular session of the Sixty-fifth Congress will open at noon 
today with President Wilson as absolutely in control of the 
war situation as he was during the extra session which closed 
in October. It requires no powers of prophecy to foresee that Con- 
gress will continue to give him hearty support in the conduct of the 
w r ar. The country is solidly back of the President and nobody real- 
izes it better than the senators and representatives who must go 
before the people for election next year. 

President Wilson will deliver his message tomorrow in person at 
a joint session of the Senate and House, as has been his custom. 
What legislation he will then recommend is purely a matter of specu- 
lation, since he has not permitted the contents of his address to become 
known. But two things in this connection are certain: He will not 
deviate one iota from the policy he has laid down for the conduct 
of the war; and whatever he proposes to Congress in the way of legis- 
lation necessary to the conduct of the war will be granted. 

There has been much curiosity here as to whether Mr. Wilson 
will discuss Lord Lansdowne's peace letter, but that curiosity has 
remained unsatisfied. However, there is no doubt that, whether or 
not the Lansdowne letter be referred to, the President will make clear 
the fact that this government is not ready to entertain any peace pro- 
posals which do not carry with them the absolute guarantee of a per- 
manent peace. There is not to be the slightest modification of Amer- 
ica's war aims. 

Rumors have reached Washington that certain Republican Con- 
gressmen are bringing with them a determination to fight the admin- 
istration's war policy and demand an accounting for the billions of 
money that have been expended. If this be true, these congress- 
men may just as well remain away from the Capital until their pug- 
nacious spirits subside, since they will find it impossible to make any 
headway with a general assault upon the administration at this time. 
It is very probable that a great majority of the Republicans will see, 
as they did in the last session, that patriotic duty and political ex- 
pediency both demand that they give ungrudging support to the 
administration in its war preparations. And those who take a nar- 
rower view will find scanty support. 

[123] 



CONGRESS AND THE WAR 

If the critics confine themselves to a demand for a statement of 
how the vast sums of money have been expended, it is probable that 
in a general way their requests will be met, unless such compliance 
should be considered to be incompatible with the nation's interest at 
this time. Congress has a right to know how the money is being 
spent and should be so informed, providing there is no military reason 
to the contrary. In fact, practically all the criticisms that have been 
directed against the administration are based upon the disinclination 
of the President and his advisers to take Congress more intimately 
into their confidence relative to war measures. A closer working ar- 
rangement can easily be effected, with better feeling all around. 

This, however, does not furnish an adequate reason for a general 
assault upon the administration or for carping criticism on the grounds 
of extravagance. The President is charged with the responsibility 
of organizing the country for this war and of planning the campaign. 
The people will demand that all branches of the government aid him 
in every way possible. They will not tolerate any interference or 
obstructive tactics. What they demand is that the war work be well 
done and as quickly as possible. After the war there will be plenty 
of time for a detailed accounting, when all who have held positions 
of responsibility may be called upon to give a report of their steward- 
ship. 



[124] 



Wednesday, December 5, 1917 
President Wilson's Address 

EVERY true American has reason to be profoundly grateful to 
President Wilson for the scope and spirit of his address to Con- 
gress. The address is really to the world, and not merely to 
Congress. It is the inflexible purpose of this nation, put into words 
that cannot be distorted or misunderstood. No statement of the war 
aims of civilization has equaled this crystal-clear summing up of 
the reasons why the free nations will carry the war to the point where 
they can impose upon the entire world a peace based upon justice and 
reparation. The President makes it understood that the United States 
does not wage war in vindictiveness, but in the moderation of his 
utterance there is no taint of indecision. His resolution is made more 
conspicuous by the absence of anger and vituperation. 

If the element in Great Britain represented by Lord Lansdowne 
really desire what the President has outlined, instead of what Lord 
Lansdowne blunderingly expressed, they will have reason to thank 
the American executive. If they are pacifists because of faint- 
heartedness, they will be equally under obligations to the President 
for the immense comfort and strength of his message to the allies. 

The most striking feature of the address is, of course, the recom- 
mendation that Congress declare war on Austria-Hungary. President 
Wilson preferred that public opinion should lead and not follow him 
in this matter. He now prefers that the people shall first demand war 
against Bulgaria and Turkey before he recommends such action. 
Probably it is best that public opinion should be united on such a 
matter before Congress is called upon to act, but The Washington 
Post has not the slightest doubt that the United Sates will soon be 
compelled to arraign both Bulgaria and Turkey as enemies. In some 
respects it is to be regretted that the President did not include them 
in the proposed declaration of war. The Turks and Bulgars in this 
country should be classed with Germans and Austrians and treated 
accordingly. 

The United States land and naval forces should be just as free 
to operate against Turks and Bulgars as against Germans and Aus- 
trians. Italy is now assailed by Turkish and Bulgarian divisions. 
The sworn friends of the United States are in a struggle with Turks 
and Bulgars, the sworn friends of the Hun. It is not that the United 

[125] 



PRESIDENT WILSON'S ADDRESS 

States and Bulgaria or Turkey are likely to come to death grips — 
that may be classed as a ridiculous conception — but it is because 
of our allies that the United States should declare war against every 
one of Germany's allies. This country should not attempt to dis- 
criminate between enemies. It should not discriminate between 
friends. As it would be offensive to treat one ally as if it were partly 
an enemy, so it is unwise to treat an enemy as if it were partly a 
friend. 

President Wilson does not ask Congress to declare war upon 
Turkey and Bulgaria, but we hope Congress will do so, and thus ex- 
pedite the process of making perfectly clear to our people and our 
enemies just where the great line is to be drawn. We hope the Bul- 
garian legation in the United States will be shut up and its personnel 
sent out of the country. The depravity of the German bomb in- 
trigues proves that no subject of the Teutonic alliance can be safely 
trusted in the United States without registration and surveillance. 
Bulgars and Turks may be spies of Germany. They should be made 
amenable to the punishment dealt out to spies. If they do not resort 
to crime they will be unharmed. If they try to help the enemy, there 
will then be a remedy. 

It is quite evident that President Wilson would welcome a decla- 
ration of war against all of Germany's allies. He is willing that 
public sentiment should manifest itself immediately upon that sub- 
ject. 



[ 126 



Friday, December 7, 1917 

The Last Chapter of the Hapsburgs 

THE United States is about to declare war on Austria-Hungary. 
The declaration appears to many Americans as perfunctory. 
It is nothing of the kind. It is a long step toward the defeat 
of the German military power. The events growing out of this decla- 
ration will change the current of history. 

Valuable time is to be lost through the delay in declaring and 
prosecuting war against Bulgaria and Turkey. Since the President 
has not asked for war against those states Congress will hardly in- 
clude them as enemies, although if it should decide to do so there is 
no doubt that the President would be glad to approve of the resolu- 
tion. 

One field of the war has been practically neglected by the United 
States and the allies, while vigorously cultivated by Germany. This 
is the propaganda of ideas. Germany has been forced to spread 
false ideas, as her attempt to dominate the world is as incompatible 
with truth as it is with honor. The allies have truth as their available 
weapon in combating Germany; but they have used the truth spar- 
ingly, as if they were afraid of it. In many instances they have even 
gone to the pains of concealing truth, and preventing it from reaching 
the brains of their enemies. To that extent they have cooperated 
with Germany toward their own defeat. 

If anything is calculated to make the Austrians and Bulgarians 
and Turks sick of their bargain with Germany, it is to have the 
United States declare war against them and then proceed with plans 
for their destruction. 

In the meantime it is the President's purpose to use America's 
military, naval and aerial energies against Austria as well as against 
Germany. This new extension of the war will have momentous con- 
sequences, probably visible first in Italy, but important also in Spain, 
and ultimately disastrous to Austria. It means that Italy will be 
saved; that Spain may become a republic, and that Austria will be 
broken up. 

The American declaration of war means nothing else than the 
opening of the last scene in the strange eventful history of the Haps- 
burgs. There still lingers in many American minds the notion that 
a sudden peace may be patched up, under which all nations will re- 

[127] 



THE LAST CHAPTER OF THE HAPSBURGS 

sume their former positions and relations, broadly speaking. To these 
minds it is incredible that a perfunctory resolution passed by the 
American Congress will reconstruct the map of central Europe and 
affect the lives of millions of persons for all future time. But that is 
what the resolution means, unless the United States is making mental 
reservations when it declares itself a champion of self-government 
and democracy. Every day and every hour drive home to Americans 
the knowledge that there is no mental reservation in this business — ■ 
that there cannot be any middle ground upon which to pitch a tem- 
porary tent of peace. 

Control of human beings by a military machine for purposes of 
conquest must die, or America herself must submit to that control. 
The Hapsburg empire is an essential element of the German system 
of conquest. Therefore the Hapsburg empire or the United States of 
America must quit the earth. 



[128] 



Saturday, December 8, 1917 

Massing Against the Teutons 

ON THE DAY that Germany and Austria strike their hardest blow 
at Italy, Italy gains as an ally the strongest nation in the world. 
On the day that Austria exults over the armistice with Russia, 
Austria is confronted by a new enemy who cannot be deceived, disin- 
tegrated, or beaten by force of arms. 

On the day when Roumania seems to be forsaken and handed 
over to her slayer, Austria finds that before she can destroy Rou- 
mania she must first conquer the United States of America. 

The red slayers may think they slay, but they are merely arous- 
ing the forces that will insure their own death. 

Italy is not to die. Russia is not to pass under the German 
yoke. Roumania will not make peace with her murderers. Belgium 
and Serbia are alive in the hearts of the nations that constitute the 
league of civilization. This league is beginning to assert control over 
the world. The free peoples of the two hemispheres are banded to- 
gether for self-preservation. They will rule the world because they 
must rule it or perish. 

As Americans see more clearly the abysmal cleavage between 
self-government and despotism, they rejoice to see their government 
unloose the latent forces of this republic. They will be glad when they 
learn that Congress voted for war against Austria-Hungary and that 
the President approved of the declaration on the same day. They 
will be glad when Congress sees fit to declare war on Bulgaria and 
Turkey. 

Every day makes the issue clearer. Every temporary reverse, 
every misfortune to allied arms, every enterprise by the enemy serves 
to harden the determination of humanity to strike the final blow 
for liberty. Compromise is impossible; peace is impossible unless it 
is the peace of liberty. It is not often that liberty can find its enemy 
in the open, vulnerable to attack. The enemy of liberty is usually in- 
visible, waging an unseen warfare. Now that he is out where all men 
can see him, they will not let him escape. 

The nations are lining up for Armageddon. In due time the 
splendid action of Brazil will be followed by declarations from Argen- 
tina, Chile, Colombia and Peru, together with the smaller republics 

[129] 



MASSING AGAINST THE TEUTONS 

of this hemisphere. The German propaganda shrivels whenever it 
comes in contact with the spirit of liberty. The New World will be 
found massed solidly against the Teutons, as Europe and Asia are 
already massed. No other assumption is tenable, if it be conceded 
that the spirit of liberty illumines the American republics. 

In one respect the allies can make war more effectively than they 
have been making it, and that is by propaganda in certain countries. 
Germany has outmaneuvered the allies in this branch of war — for 
that is what the propaganda is. It is incumbent upon the allies to 
make the people of Russia acquainted with the war and the issues of 
the war; to save Mexico from pro-Germanism; to give an antidote 
to the Italians who have been poisoned by German lies; to support 
the people of Argentina, who are thwarted by German intrigue; to 
prevent the Germans in Brazil from making war; to help China, 
which is harassed by German plotters, and generally to combat the 
intrigues and conspiracies instigated by Germany throughout the 
world. 



[130] 



Sunday, December 9, 1917 

Loss of the Jacob Jones 

THE nation hears with sorrow of the death in icy waters of the 
gallant officers and men of the destroyer Jacob Jones while 
on submarine patrol duty. But this sorrow is mitigated by 
pride in the United States navy and confidence in its officers and 
men. 

If it should prove that Lieut. Comdr. David Worth Bagley has 
been lost, his name will stand renowned in American annals along- 
side that of his brother, the first officer lost in the war with Spain. 
No man can have greater honor, when Providence brings his hour of 
fate, than to fall in defense of the American flag. A holy memory 
embalms the names of our defenders and keeps them fragrant forever. 

As for the assassins who lurk under the darkness of the waters, 
and those other assassins of the air who deal out fire and death to 
women and children, and those field marshals of murder who direct 
the German system, there is a retribution gathering on the wings of 
the western wind. The New World is massing its strength. The 
nations dedicated to liberty and engaged in the pursuit of happiness 
have not their full equipment of death-dealing weapons. For the 
time being the armed assassins have the advantage. But it is only 
while astounded civilization catches its breath. 

The clouds above the western horizon must grow blacker and the 
hurricane must gather its force. Every American done to death be- 
comes an avenging spirit leading the hosts of the nation to victory. 
The names of our heroes will be shouted in battle. The storm that 
drives eastward across the Atlantic will bear on its condor wings woe 
and destruction, panic and death to the assassin. But it will also 
bear comfort to the nations that have felt the heel of the invader. 
The united nations of civilization have laid down the ultimatum that 
Germany shall make reparation for wrongs done. Belgium, Serbia, 
Poland, Montenegro and Roumania must be restored. The invader 
must get out of France, Russia and Italy. 

Let no American think that the turmoil and the shouting of 
preparation mean confusion or delay. America is moving with won- 
derful swiftness in the work of transformation from a peace to a war 
nation. The imperfections we see and hear are nothing — the spirit 
is everything. From the hour that America decided in her heart that 

[1311 



LOSS OF THE JACOB JONES 

she would draw the sword and run it through Germany's vitals, the 
doom of the German empire has been sealed. All operations follow- 
ing that decision have been transitory and indecisive. Russia's be- 
trayal, Italy's misfortunes, the occasional submarine raids and all 
other German efforts are nothing but the vain struggles of a monster 
caught in the toils of inescapable doom. 

The hearts of many Americans are becoming hot with impatience, 
and they would rejoice if the avenging thunders were now reverberat- 
ing over Germany. But deep down in the heart of this nation, like 
the bedrock of the Rockies, is the patience of the ages, the fixed pur- 
pose that knows neither variableness nor shadow of turning. 

It is not with downheartedness that Americans hear of the loss 
of the Jacob Jones. It is with sorrow for the slain, but also with fierce 
longing for the hour of retribution. 



[ 132 



Tuesday, December 11, 1917 

Jerusalem Delivered 

THE bells of Christmas will ring out marvelous tidings of great 
joy this year. Jerusalem has been wrested from the Turk and 
Christendom once more possesses its holy city. To millions of 
devout worshippers this triumph is the greatest fact of the war, more 
heart-stirring than the death or birth of nations. They rejoice in 
the prospect of early purification of the sacred places which have been 
polluted by the filthy race that has been a traitor to its own professed 
religion and a blight to every land it has overrun. The Moslems as 
well as the Christians have thrown off Turkish rule. The remnant of 
the Turks who now cling to Constantinople will be thrust out before 
this war is over. 

Evidently the German influence in Turkey is not sufficient to 
cope with the sturdy British forces that have crept northward from 
Beersheba toward Dan. Gen. von Falkenhayn is supposed to be 
trying to reorganize the Turks for a campaign against the British 
in Palestine and Mesopotamia. In the meantime the British columns 
have advanced in both fields, and even if the Germans should rally 
the Turks for another campaign, it will probably be a losing fight. 
The British flag stays were it is planted. 

Many Americans regret that the United States of America has 
not shared in the glory of rescuing the Holy Land. They regret that a 
state of war does not exist between the United States and Turkey. 
They ardently hope that before many days have passed this nation 
will have placed itself squarely in armed opposition to the Turk, with 
the resolve that there shall be no peace until the defiler of Christian 
and Moslem shrines has been overpowered and his victim nations 
released. 

The news of the capture of Jerusalem will go to the corners of 
the earth. It is of immense moral significance. It will not be good 
news to the Germans, who defiled the altars of their religion for the 
sake of a bargain with the Ottomans. While the nations celebrate 
the redemption of the holy city, what will be the feelings of the 
German people as they think of their league with the Turk? How 
can they send up hosannas at Christmas time? When the imperial 
betrayer of Germany turns his thoughts on Christmas eve to Beth- 
lehem and Jerusalem, some sense of blasphemy must shame his heart 

[133] 



THE NEW NATION 

and palsy his tongue. Like that other crowned murderer he may well 
say, "Amen stuck in my throat!" 

The New Nation 

THE free government of Finland asks for recognition from the 
United States and other nations. Out of the anarchy that 
covers the vast ruin of the Russian empire emerges this com- 
pact, enlightened, homogeneous nation, already habituated to self- 
government and inspired by ideals of true and not false liberty. The 
right hand of the United States should be extended at once to Fin- 
land. 

If other nationalities in the former Russian empire can organize 
their own governments and successfully detach themselves from the 
maniacs who are delivering the country to Germany, they should be 
encouraged to do so. 

It is a thousand times better that the Russian territories should 
be split up into a number of small, homogeneous, independent gov- 
ernments than that the extinct empire should be turned over to Ger- 
many. 

Siberians are organizing their own government. They are a pro- 
gressive people on a fruitful soil. Let Finland shake hands with 
Siberia; let the Caucasus set up a free state; let Poland persevere and 
await the hour when Germany's mailed fist will be cracked by the 
mace of civilization, and as state after state arises from the smoking 
ruins, it may be that not distant years will witness the creation of 
the United States of Russia, the greatest republic under the firma- 
ment. 



[134 



Wednesday, December 12, 1917 
Duty of the Allies in Russia 

THE colossal kaleidoscope of Russia turns again, and the re- 
mainder of mankind look on in awe and apprehension as the 
giant figures appear. Is the shapeless and headless mass to 
organize and become a fixed star? Is it to plunge into chaos, threaten- 
ing to collide with and demolish ordered governments? Or will 
Russia disintegrate and become the raw material for the composi- 
tion of many governments? 

Apparently the last mentioned possibility is becoming a prob- 
ability, as one section after another denounces the Petrograd ex- 
tremists. Altogether, eleven nations are within the reach of stable 
organization in Russia. There is enough territory and enough popu- 
lation left over to make a dozen more nations. Some of them may 
be odd creations, judged from the western point of view, but they are 
instinct with the spirit of liberty, and do not care particularly what 
mythological America may think of them, anyhow. They are as 
indifferent to America as Alabama is to public sentiment in Nijni 
Novgorod. 

Under all the turbulence in Russia is a slow but steady current 
toward liberty. It is shown in the sporadic declarations of inde- 
pendence of Petrograd. It appears in the efforts of the cossacks and 
the Siberians, in the struggles at Moscow, in the confusion in Bes- 
sarabia, in the action of Finland, and in the dwindling power of the 
bolsheviki leaders. Russians, not having a government, are groping 
for order, security and liberty. 

The question now is whether the great allies will immediately 
come to the help of Russia, or permit Germany to complete the wreck 
of that potentially majestic free nation. The German terms of 
peace, as reported, reveal nothing inconsistent with the remorseless 
and savage character of German militarism. If Russia will give Ger- 
many all her wheat for fifteen years, admit German products free of 
duty and permit Germany to hold the territory now occupied, Ger- 
many will graciously agree to turn her attention to some other victim. 
This means, if accepted, that Germany will be fed by Russia and fur- 
nished with money with which to complete the conquest of the rest 
of the world. That accomplished, there would be nothing to prevent 
Germany from taking over the remainder of Russia. 

[135] 



DUTY OF THE ALLIES IN RUSSIA 

The process of destroying Russia cannot be accomplished in a 
day, even under such favorable circumstances as those which Ger- 
many enjoys. The allies have time in which to interpose a counter 
campaign. Properly conceived and adequately undertaken, an anti- 
German campaign in Russia could be made with success. It would 
be better than a dozen victorious battles, for it would establish to 
the east of Germany a nation capable of overpowering the Huns in 
case they should again attack their neighbors. 

Now, while there is time, and while the fortune of war is still 
unrevealed, it is incumbent upon the allies to lift up Russia. The 
United States alone can do it, if it will. The ingenuity and enter- 
prise of America is equal to the task of stirring the mind and heart 
of Russia. Once the true spark of liberty is struck, once the people of 
Russia are enabled to act in orderly fashion for the creation of a 
provisional government, the establishment of a constitutional free 
government will follow. 

No more fertile field exists in the world for the growth of liberty 
than the land that stretches from the Arctic to the Black Sea and the 
Pacific Ocean. The allies have no right to stand idle while Germany 
sows the seeds of hell and destruction in that enormous portion of 
the earth. If they should permit Germany to master or permanently 
disable Russia they would be adding immeasurably to the draining 
of blood from every allied nation. With Russia as a granary and a 
recruiting cantonment for Germany the civilized world would not 
see the certainty of victorious peace for many a year. 



[136] 



Monday, December 17, 1917 
The Opportunity of the Allies 

THE Germans are having their own way for the time being in 
Russia, having induced the mob "government" at Petrograd to 
agree to an armistice paving the way for peace. The terms of 
the armistice ostensibly bind the Germans not to move their troops 
from the Russian front to operate against the allies, but this agreement 
is nothing more than a scrap of paper. Doubtless the traitors who 
signed the agreement in behalf of Russia are aware that Germany 
does not intend to forego the opportunity to mass troops on the 
western front. Probably the stipulation was suggested by Germany, 
as a cunning device to deceive the allies into placing further reliance 
on the good faith of the traitors who are betraying Russia. 

The Lenine-Trotzky group are not trying to protect the allies 
of Russia. They deceive no one with their pretensions. They are 
doing their best to deliver Russia over to her destroyer at the earliest 
possible moment, in order that the Germans may then be free to attack 
the western allies. 

Apparently the allied nations are doing nothing to stem the cur- 
rent of German intrigue in Russia. No hint has been allowed to go 
out from Paris concerning any action taken at the allied conference 
in behalf of Russia. So far as the world knows, the allies have 
abandoned hope of reclaiming Russia. There seems to be a general 
opinion, in America at any rate, that Russia has gone too far to be 
reclaimed in time to do the allies any good in this war; that the crisis 
of the war is at hand, and must be disposed of by the allies for 
better or worse without Russia's help. 

This, it appears to The Post, is an exceedingly short-sighted view, 
and until evidence is forthcoming to the contrary we shall not believe 
that the allied council at Paris decided to leave Russia to her fate. 
On the contrary, we believe that the sagacious statesmen dominating 
that conference have taken steps to give powerful aid to Russia. We 
believe that these leaders have full confidence in the restoration of 
Russia's sanity in time to be of immense importance in this war. 
They do not regard the threatened German offensive in the west as 
precipitating the crisis of the war, for the reason that allied artillery 
is at least equal to anything that Germany can bring up, and prob- 
ably greatly superior. Mere masses of men thrown against British 

[137] 



THE OPPORTUNITY OF THE ALLIES 

and French artillery will not gain anything for Germany. The allies 
look for a terrific blow against Italy, but they are agreed that this 
effort, even if successful in capturing Venice, will not save Germany 
from the defeat that is now clearly in sight. 

This defeat will be administered by the allies with the powerful 
help of the United States. It cannot be accomplished before next 
year. America's military and aerial power cannot be concentrated 
before that time. In the interval there does not appear to be any 
possibility of a decision of the war in Europe, however vigorously 
Germany may struggle. 

In the months that must elapse, it is inconceivable that the 
allies will stand idly by and witness the further disintegration 
of Russia without trying to aid the Russian people. Every effort 
made in behalf of Russia is a stroke in favor of the allies. Every 
failure to help Russia is a direct favor to Germany. It may be that 
the war will so develop that effective work done now in behalf of 
Russia will turn the scale of battle a year or two years hence and 
save the lives of tens of thousands of Americans, Britons, Frenchmen 
and Italians. 

At no time during this world-shaking epoch has the duty of the 
allies been so emphatically, thunderously proclaimed by events as in 
the case of Russia. The allies blundered in failing to save Serbia. 
They blundered in the case of Roumania. They blundered almost 
to the point of losing Greece. They have an opportunity now to avoid 
the most colossal blunder of all, by immediately beginning an anti- 
German propaganda in Russia. The opportunity will not be open 
long. 



138] 



Wednesday, December 19, 1917 

Hysteria and Truth 

THE wave of depression that is sweeping over the country, par- 
ticularly among business men, is a perfectly natural reaction, 
and will disappear as soon as Americans in the mass are better 
acquainted with existing facts and are better able to weigh the factors 
that must decide the course and outcome of the war. 

Too many Americans have been mental slackers. They have 
neglected their duty in failing to get in line with the truth. They 
have contented themselves with braggadocio and bluster. They have 
vaguely assured themselves that a little more bluster and little more 
bluff would frighten the kaiser into surrender "some time next spring." 
They were surprised that Germany did not abjectly surrender when 
the United States declared war. 

Now that Germany masses her legions for bigger battles than 
ever in sublime contempt of America these easy-going citizens are 
attacked by a severe case of "cold feet." Their confidence has sud- 
denly disappeared. Instead of a German surrender, they now picture 
to themselves a scientifically remorseless German murder machine 
cutting down swaths of humanity on its way to American shores. 
Instead of blissfully ignoring what their own government was doing, 
these citizens are now acutely suspicious of Washington. They look 
upon it as the center of chaos itself, where incompetence and selfish- 
ness are struggling toward ruin. Nothing is going right; no depart- 
ment is administered properly; everything is botched and everybody 
is blundering. 

Congress reflects the popular feeling by ordering investigations 
into everybody and everything. The rule for the time being is this: 
"Whatever is, is wrong." Every investigation has for its object a 
change of system and personnel. Out with them! "America must 
win the war." 

This hysteria will pass in due time. It is misrepresentative of 
America's true spirit. It is as much a libel upon the real America 
as was that braggadocio and bluster upon which too large a percentage 
of Americans relied to "scare the kaiser." 

The United States of America was not brought forth to die at 
the hand of assassins. It has already been subjected to the fiercest 
test that could be imposed upon its ability to survive. It has gone 

[139] 



HYSTERIA AND TRUTH 

up against a people vastly more dangerous and more terrible in battle 
than Germans — namely, Americans. When the American Union was 
cemented by the blood of its own people it passed beyond the stage 
where any foreign hand could destroy it. 

France went through the same test of fire, and is now inde- 
structible. Great Britain was tried by civil war, and survived, to 
become free and great. Italy conquered herself and is forever free. 
Russia is going through the test now, and since her people are simple, 
honest and liberty-loving, it is a certainty that Russia will emerge 
as a mighty nation, invulnerable to destruction from without. Ger- 
many alone, of all great countries, must pass through the bloody bap- 
tism of civil war, to come forth a free and self-governing nation. 

With calm confidence, with foreknowledge of victory, America 
day by day draws nearer to the hour when she will administer to 
Germany the defeat that has been ordained. The passing incidents, 
the whirls and eddies of daily events are less than nothing in the march 
of this New World toward the establishment of self-government 
among men, including Germans. The majesty of the western hemi- 
sphere baring its arm for battle, the glory that shines on the sword of 
outraged Liberty, the power that Nature delivers to her free sons 
to be used in behalf of freedom — these are not visible to the eye of 
flesh, but they are clear and resplendent to the eye of every true-born 
American. 

Let the barbarian rage; let the scientific savages plot and plan 
against the life of Liberty. They are as impotent against the western 
hurricane as the summer gnat, and they are as woefully steeped, in 
blindness as those rabbit-hearted Americans who now squeak and 
tremble at the thought of a battle to the finish. 



[140] 



Tuesday, December 25, 1917 

Relying Upon America 

MORE and more the civilized world is relying upon the United 
States to furnish the strength to win the war. From all that 
is on the surface and from much that has not appeared, comes 
the evidence of humanity's dependence upon the United States and 
the New World in the struggle with the force that seeks to do away 
with self-government. 

Not only do the allied nations freely acknowledge that their fate 
is bound up in the action of the United States, but the enemy is 
daily more frank in designating the United States as his real antago- 
nist. This nation, the representative of free republics, and especially 
of the republics of this hemisphere, is the target of the venomous 
wrath of the German murder lords. Having failed to seduce or 
deceive the United States, they now propose to defeat it by wearing 
away the allies and then falling with crushing force upon America. 
Treacherous "peace" proposals and preparation for huge war strokes 
go forward together. If the United States cannot be defeated by 
treachery, it must be smashed by the mailed fist. 

The inevitable struggle draws near. The enemy is arrogantly 
confident, with the swollen pride, based upon ignorance, that always 
goes before a fall. He counts upon a multitude of factors to defeat 
this nation, factors which either do not exist or which will disappear 
under the stress of fighting. He relies upon poisonous propaganda, 
which cannot win in an enlightened country where patriots are on 
guard. He counts upon defections in Latin America, evidently be- 
lieving that temptations of material advantage will induce the free 
republics of this hemisphere to throw away their freedom. In this 
the enemy builds upon false hopes. The American republics won 
their freedom after great exertion and suffering. They will not throw 
it away for a mess of German pottage, even if Germany should intend 
in good faith to deliver the pottage and should possess the ability to 
do so. 

Germany also counts upon the disability of Italy — a hope that 
is destined to disappointment. Italy is indestructible. She may be 
sorely wounded, but she cannot be disintegrated or defeated. Her 
people are of one mind; they are fighting for the integrity of their 
own soil, for the protection of their own homes and loved ones. The 

[141] 



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7_.-: -i; ;-:.r.-o: . - _ 

;: i^ni ivzizivr ;: hr-i:; :;r. . 

must be shaneped . - ;. v;zirl:sz- 

i-ll:?i tv.::. : - - 

- -; r: : ;jz - - - - - • _ 

MMkiij;c:. iz::Zr_ -.--.. ..--. 

-It Li'JX ~ll_ >.-"._ - IrHf ;J~f it' • - 



- 



Wee D bet t6 t ." 

German War and Peace Del 

THE German emperor's 
front 

The k 

■ 
of his army in ; \ B . g throng 

slaughter at Verdun, which di 
•ml and effective, an 

ludes 
-suring his du] - " 

Germany, and that un allied nations accept ill be 

forced upon them by the maik . fist rid shining sword rmany. 

How vain, how empty is the i 1 murc-:: 

who struts a : • in \ - i ing I his Makei 

The world considers the bos - the kaiser ii. 
the tr - and falsehood now employ .any in demoraliz- 

ing Russia. The victims of German %\ U 

put a true appraisement upon the mouthings of the war lord. The 
allied nations regard his utterances with curiosity - they would 
those of a madman, and are as little swayed by them. 

The assumption by Germany that the allied nations will send 
■ - • the "peace conferen - Bi --Litovsk is one of 

the ridiculous incidents of the war. I* - rth while to have a good 
laugh at such non.-er.i-e. appearing in the mid-* : - much th I 
wearing upon the patience of the world. T; "acle of allied 

nations, r .rig all civilization, gathering at the behest :' 

man tricksters and an assortment of Russian traitors and dup - 
discuss a peace based upon the supremacy of Germany, would prove 
that the world had gone mad indeed. 

Germany's peace propaganda is intended to appeal to the igno- 
rant and base elements of all allied nations, as well as to the gullible 
majority in Germany. The kaiser convinces his people that he is in 
league with divine omnipotence. Hence they go like lambs to the 
slaughter. History does not record a parallel to the infatuation of 
the German massed troops, save in the ecstacies of Moslem fanatics 
who actually hypnotize themselves into seeing Paradise above the 
muzzles of the enemy guns. The German losses at Verdun. Cambrai, 

[143] 



GERMAN WAR AND PEACE DELUSIONS 

Vimy Ridge, Chemin des Dames, the Somme and in the Trentine 
Alps have been ruinously high. No people except those possessed of 
religious mania would continue such a devastating war. The German 
people are literally in possession of a delusion that carries them to 
destruction. There can be no compromise nor even an approach 
toward a discussion of differences while the German nation is beside 
itself. Its frenzy must be knocked out of it by adversity; its senses 
must be restored by brutal shocks well-nigh fatal to its mortal frame. 

The allies are anything but deluded. They see with eyes sharp- 
ened by the terrible danger. They are keenly alive to the nature and 
magnitude of their task. They realize the costly nature of the blun- 
ders they have made. Necessity drives them to new and untried 
expedients, but they are throwing away old prejudices and are quick 
to seize upon the advantage of timeliness. Every day brings the allied 
nations nearer together; every day widens the gulf between civiliza- 
tion and a dishonorable and unsafe peace. 

The German ruler and the German plotters boast and rave, but 
the allied forces of civilization work inexorably toward the doom of 
the system that strikes at freedom. 



[144 



Friday, December 28, 1917 
On the European Fronts 

ABROAD survey of the military situation induces expert observers 
to believe that the German government is planning to assemble 
forces for its supreme effort, not this winter, but next spring 
and summer. The great antagonists lie sprawled in the mud on the 
western front, locked in an embrace that will not permit either of 
them to change his position materially until transportation difficulties 
are lessened. No doubt Germany is increasing the number of troops 
along the western front, but unless they are accompanied by a heavy 
increase of artillery, quite beyond the gun strength of the allies, there 
is not apt to be any decisive fighting before spring. 

The delays obtained by the Germans in negotiating with the Rus- 
sians at Brest-Litovsk are palpably for the purpose of gaining time 
in which to shift troops to the western and Italian fronts. The fact 
that Germany has pledged itself not to move troops from the Russian 
front during the armistice does not hinder; probably the pledge was 
given with the intention of breaking it. Since the negotiations are 
inherently base and treacherous, for the sole purpose of betraying the 
Russians, it goes without saying that the Germans will not hesitate 
to take advantage of any minor opportunities. 

The situation calls for extreme energy by the Teutons on the 
Italian front, for the purpose of breaking through and taking Venice 
and solidifying the Teuton position in Italy before events elsewhere 
demand full attention. Hence the Austro-German attacks in the 
Trentino and along the Piave and Brenta are active and persistent, 
with steadily accumulating forces. Slowly but surely the Teutons are 
working down toward the plains and threatening to flank the Italian 
army on the Piave. Much stronger forces than any thus far sent by 
France and England must go to Italy's aid if Venice is to be saved; 
for the line of defense is not strategically sound, and it can be held 
only by superior numbers and superior artillery. 

The British campaigns in Palestine and Mesopotamia are very 
successful. Although little or nothing has appeared in print on the 
subject, it seems probable that the relations between Germany and 
Turkey are severely strained. If the two were in full accord there 
would be a strong Turkish force under German command resisting 
the British advance. It was to be Gen. von Falkenhayn's task to 

[145] 



ON THE EUROPEAN FRONTS 

reorganize the Turks for service against the Britons. The feeble 
opposition by the natives gives no indication of Von Falkenhayn's 
presence. Indeed, the operations strongly indicate that communica- 
tion between Constantinople and Jerusalem was cut off some months 
ago. 

If the allies were as active in propagandizing as are their enemies, 
they might take advantage of the possible breach between Germany 
and Turkey and make of it a wedge to split the central alliance. 

The change of commanders at Saloniki is an interesting sequel 
to the British advance and the Italian situation. Gen. Guillaumat, 
who succeeds Gen. Sarrail, is a man of tremendous force, whose mettle 
has been lately proved. The transport of men and supplies to Saloniki 
has been maintained by England and France against all obstacles, and 
the force there is now in shape to operate successfully under the right 
leadership. If the Turks have become demoralized, as appears prob- 
able, the hour may be near for offensive tactics by the allies in the 
Balkans. 

One of the important factors of the situation is the keen and 
unified survey that is now made by the allies through the council 
sitting at Versailles. Although this council does not exercise supreme 
authority, it is supreme in military intelligence and ability to con- 
solidate upon wise plans. The allied governments are thus con- 
strained to adopt the conclusions of the council. Mr. Lloyd George 
recently observed that the creation of the council marked a turning 
point in the war, as would be acknowledged later. 



[ 146 



Tuesday, January 1, 1918 

To Americans in the Year 1918 

MANKIND stands in awe of the vast inscrutable portents of the 
New Year. The world faces a new untrodden No Man's 
Land, with no light overhead and no path underfoot. For 
reasons beyond the ken of mortals the nations are under the harrow 
of war. Two or three strong nations have become involved during 
the last year, and apparently the process will continue until the world 
has been made over. 

This is a time when the ephemeral drops away like a cloak, and 
men grope for some immovable rock of refuge, some rule of life that 
will save them and all that has been accumulated by their sweat 
since the Dark Ages. Where is the rock to be found? What is the 
immutable rule that can withstand the shock and the deluge? 

Americans know in their hearts that the rock of refuge and the 
rule of salvation is Liberty. It is the one sure reliance, the one guide 
to life, safety and happiness. Without liberty and the spirit of 
liberty, Americans would become a mob of overprosperous fatlings, 
ripe for the ravagings of steel-thewed barbarians. Inspired by liberty, 
America is capable of laying aside the garments of peace and buckling 
on an invincible armor. The transformation is going on before our 
eyes. 

As passionately as they cling to life, Americans believe their 
organized forces will defeat the world's enemy. They cannot con- 
ceive of defeat as the fate of the United States. They are overconfi- 
dent in too many instances, with the result that preparation is not 
hastened as it should be. Too many Americans fail to understand 
that the hurricane involves themselves, their families, their fortunes, 
their honor and their country's fate. They do not reason out to its 
conclusion the awful consequence of possible defeat. What is the 
family tie in lands conquered by the enemy? What is private prop- 
erty worth? What avails the labor of a man's hands? What would 
a man gain by hoarding if the United States should lose the war? 

All that an American has is his country's in this crisis. He owes 
to his country his life, the lives of his sons, his fortune, his cour- 
ageous spirit and his effective brain. Without his country an Ameri- 
can is a poor shred of man, the jest of a brutal master, a trained dog 
for a German. 

[147] 



TO AW" BAB 191S 

e clouds ross Ulai are dark, indeed, on the dawn of 

the £ hit what about the light in the West? What of the 

radiance that shines from heaven upon the free New World? Here 

is the hope of humanity. The Old World is inextricably engulfed in 
. It cannot do more than stagger along in bloody trenches, 
unable to mak - I ssful war or successful peace. 

Th > World must carry forward the war for humanity during 

this new year, and so long as brute force attempts to control mankind. 

: that the lightnings may be gathered for the shattering of 

emy during this twelvemonth! God grant that the real spirit of 

America may burst forth from slothful wrappings, arm itself with 

Now World's power, and smite the enemy hip and thigh! 

Every American crossing the Atlantic goes on a holy errand. 

I :. every shell, every bullet aimed at the heart of the enemy 

is engaged in sacred work for the relief of humanity. America's cause 

s s s s Ti - 5 9 benediction from the Almighty. Speed 

- you shipbuilders! Hammer out the steel and copper, you 

millworkers! Join hands, you railroad men! Sharpen your eyes and 

toughen your muscles, you boys in khaki and blue jackets! There 

is glorious work ahead. The world that is worth saving turns to 

America for salvation. The enemy turns also, and faces America 

with savag - and a bloody knife. May Americans feel in 

their hearts the spirit that lifted up the bold and warlike of our nation 

in ancient days. May the free men of this republic strike the fatal 

blow during the year 1918 



fHSl 



- 
Coward I 

T" 
• . - . 

rmer in which the German antoeraey can ertingmfh 
emporarily in Russia is through the betrayal by Ros- 

reason can permanently enslave Rtreyia That nation 

V 

•-..■-■ 
. :.•'.— rr Lr r.r'r.z ^rizr. " 

apparent now, in the midst of eonfused and sophomorie 
■ ■ 
V 
in deamu Russia and the Rmriaip There is no excuse for 

• - - - 

- ■ ■ ■ : i ?. . - - ■ 

' - -. :.~ '.v l:\vl- i~ - : --. -■ Th^ 

~ - ./.-.:'.- :.i ; r.irr^rd ■ ' - .v - :- . ,r: :za: *_•-. :r_e --.:'-.- ~ ill -::-_- 

mge reptile? The allies are perplexed by :rriigioas em-rents 

;--; ■-.■-.r.'.-.-'-.i '-'_--- T :.'---. .- :.■--:-' \z.-. ~T-~ ■-:■' "--* "i~ 
'^ '.: . . -;.;-'. :- -;:.;-_ v.- -; -;.^ r^ir.ir- ::' r.-~--. --.•-. 

a their Kberty. br-- -.,?gnme it and adhere 

through thick and th B -_&n nature does not change 

. : - - 

' * - - - -_■-■•-■ - 

: . .. . . . - ^ __ - - . 



RUSSIA GROPING TOWARD LIBERTY 

The wings of the morning have carried the message of liberty. 
Across immense stretches of Europe and Asia the magic word has 
been borne, in hundreds of dialects, never misunderstood, and never 
failing to kindle a fire that cannot be extinguished. Like music, lib- 
erty is instantly translatable into all languages and understandable 
by all hearts. Treason, domestic tumult, private ambition, bribery, 
foreign aggression — all are outstripped by the message that has gone 
flying over Russia. Not one of these malign influences will ever 
overtake and slay liberty. Russia may suffer from an overdose of 
liberty for a time, but she will not do without it hereafter. German 
and Austrian plots and plans to shackle the Russian people and 
reduce them to slaves to the Teuton power constitute only that elusive 
hope of success which eventually may spell ruin for the conspirators. 

The allies can do much to counteract the Teuton conspiracy. 
They can accelerate the establishment of stable liberty in Russia. 
They can exclude much poison that the Germans are injecting into 
Russian veins. This much is due to Russia. The abandonment of 
the Russians would be almost an admission that republics cannot be 
successfully established in Europe; that German militarism must be 
called in to establish order; that the dream of self-government is a 
failure, so far as one-seventh of the globe is concerned. 



[150] 



Sunday, January 6, 1918 
The Great War Aim 

THE kernel of Premier Lloyd George's statement of the allies' 
war aims is this paragraph: 

"The days of the treaty of Vienna are long past. We can 
no longer submit the future of European civilization to the arbitrary 
decisions of a few negotiators striving to secure by chicanery or per- 
suasion the interests of this or that dynasty or nation. Therefore, 
government with the consent of the governed must be the basis of 
any territorial settlement." 

So marches the Declaration of Independence, from one end of 
Europe to the other! Under the banner proclaiming that men shall 
be free to govern themselves, all humanity is on the move toward 
the goal of liberty. No earthly power can stop the movement, for 
it is the greatest power on earth that causes the movement. 

The war lords of Germany started the war, believing that the 
fate of dynasties and nations would be determined by Germany, in 
the interest of the superior German race. 

The war lords of Germany started something that neither they 
nor any other lords can stop. Perhaps the rulers of Germany would 
be glad to return to the old place they occupied before the war. 
They will never return. 

It is well, while reading Air. Lloyd George's sturdy, clean-cut, 
decisive utterance, to let the mind run back to the beginning of the 
war and consider the immense expansion of the spirit of liberty since 
the hour when Franz Josef's trembling hand, guided by the "mailed 
fist," struck what was to be a fatal blow at puny Serbia. At almost 
the same moment when Mr. Lloyd George spoke in England, the head 
of the Serbian mission addressed the United States Senate, and voiced 
the indomitable spirit of liberty. Is Serbia dead, as the imperial 
assassins intended? On the contrary, one of the conspirators has gone 
to his Maker, and the other will go in due time, with the blood of 
over 10.000,000 men on his soul. The shedders of blood go down to 
destruction, but the spirit of liberty lifts stricken nations and bids 
them survive. 

Austria-Hungary and Germany are joining the throng of human- 
ity that marches toward freedom. True, they are in the rearward of 

[151] 



THE GREAT WAR AIM 

the procession, with the Turks, but they are beginning to move. The 
subject nationalities of Austria-Hungary are stirred to the depths. 
Italy, Roumania and Serbia are not calling in vain to their sons who 
are in the Teuton-Magyar toils. The reconstruction of Austria-Hun- 
gary is an event that casts its shadow before the world. When the 
United States declared war on Austria-Hungary, the die was cast. 
This nation cannot remain a free republic and abandon its duty of 
smashing Austria-Hungary as well as Germany. The free govern- 
ments of the earth respond to the will of their free peoples, and this 
will has been registered on earth and carried to heaven by a million 
martyrs — "The earth shall be governed with the consent of the gov- 
erned." 

Details and specifications are unnecessary. The ups and downs 
of daily struggles mean little. The main fact is sufficient for present 
consideration as a guide to clear thought on the meaning and end 
of this war. That fact, as we see it, is that mankind has been 
aroused from the sloth of centuries and is now determined once for all 
to make this world free, according to nationalities which can live at 
peace with their neighbors, each on its ancestral soil. The maniac 
nations attempting to dominate the others will be disarmed and con- 
fined to their own boundaries. There they may make themselves free 
if they like. Thereafter, if they or any other nations attempt to upset 
the world's peace, combined civilization will disarm and punish them. 
The second attempt will be a brief and inglorious failure, for the 
world has learned something from this war and will not be caught 
napping again. 



[ 152 



Saturday, January 12, 1918 
Freedom the Fundamental War Aim 

THE war lords and spokesmen of Germany utter howls of rage 
and dismay in commenting upon President Wilson's address. 
If they were astonished by Premier Lloyd George's sturdy 
declaration of war aims, they are stupefied by the ultimatum that 
reaches them from the New World. 

In connection with its military campaigns Germany has diligently 
conducted a peace offensive, in the hope that confusion of purpose 
might be engendered among the allies, causing a break somewhere 
and thereby enabling Germany to issue from the war with most of 
her loot intact. The people of Germany must have peace sooner than 
the people of allied countries must have it, but the German war- 
makers have been trying to devise a peace that will give Germany 
large acquisitions and permit her to escape without punishment or 
disarmament. 

President Wilson's address puts an end to the German hopes. 
From high to low, the people of Germany now know that they cannot 
keep their loot and have peace. In order to obtain peace they must 
either become harmless or free — that is, they may democratize them- 
selves and thus prepare for a peace based upon justice, or they may 
continue the fight until they are whipped and made harmless. In 
neither event can they have both peace and spoils. 

"President Wilson is trying to queer our negotiations at Brest- 
Litovsk," cries one of the German organs. We hope that was one of 
Mr. Wilson's aims, and we ardently hope it will succeed. It was 
high time that the allies should let Russia know that free nations 
sympathize with her, in spite of her violent gyrations in trying to find 
stable government. 

Every day brings out more distinctly the great fact that this war 
has become a revolution for the freedom of nations, including the 
German nation. The war ought not to end prematurely, leaving huge 
proportions of the human race in slavery. It should be fought to the 
point where all the large nations are agreed that each nationality 
must be permitted to occupy its ancestral soil and there govern and 
develop itself according to its own national genius. As soon as Ger- 
many and Austria-Hungary see this light of truth there can be quick 
and just peace, equitable to those nations. Until they see this light 
they must face the bayonets and bullets of the world. 

[153] 



FREEDOM THE FUNDAMENTAL WAR AIM 

The world is not fighting because it seeks to shed blood, but 
having been compelled to take up the sword in defense of the liberty 
that had been accumulated up to 1914, it has now made up its mind 
not to lay down the sword until freedom is substantially universal. 
That is now the only guarantee of permanent peace. It is better to 
fight and hold on to any advantages of the fight than to make tem- 
porary peace and lose those advantages at the opening of fresh war. 
Germany is breathing hard now, and her people are losing their lust 
for world domination as their bellies flatten. Continued war will 
bring them to reason. Temporary peace would enable them to regain 
their flesh and arm themselves anew. 

Nothing more accurate and luminous has been said by any states- 
man during this war than Mr. Balfour's remarks that Germany must 
be powerless or free. Other nations are either powerless or free, and 
many of them are both. If Germans were free, peace would be auto- 
matic. If Germans will not make themselves free, the world must 
make them powerless. The point has been reached where the alterna- 
tive is a harmless Germany or a Germanized world. 

The war has taught mankind that no nation can be trusted unless 
it is governed by its own people. Human safety requires that all 
nations not self-governed shall be disarmed or destroyed. Germany 
has the choice, along with all other nations, to free herself or commit 
suicide. The outside w r orld does not care how Germans rule them- 
selves. If they like Hohenzollerns they can have all the Hohenzollerns 
they like, but in dealing with the rest of the world it must be clear 
that Germany is governed with consent of the governed, or the war 
will not and cannot cease. 



U54] 



Sunday, January 20, 1918 

The Search for Efficiency 

ANY WAR cabinet or council which Congress might create would 

£± be merely a means of assisting the President of the United 

States to conduct the war. Therefore no cabinet or council 

should be created, and no powers should be conferred upon any person, 

without the advice and consent of the President previously obtained. 

The executive power of the United States is vested in the Presi- 
dent, and he is commander-in-chief of the army and navy and of the 
militia while it is in the national service. Executive departments are 
mere creations of Congress, designed to aid the President. They may 
be changed or abolished in an hour. If it should appear wise to alter 
the War Department so as to make it a subordinate branch of a 
Department of Munitions, Congress could make the change. But it 
should not make any changes affecting the conduct of the war without 
first obtaining the advice and consent of the President, in whom is 
placed the authority and responsibility of executive power. 

Congress has before it an object lesson of efficiency and an object 
lesson of inefficiency, side by side. The Navy is efficiently supplied 
and operated. The Army is inefficiently supplied and operated. Is it 
not worth while to study these two object lessons and ascertain the 
reason why the Navy succeeds where the Army fails? 

The first solid fact revealed by the most casual study is that 
authority and responsibility are regarded as inseparable in the Navy, 
while they are often if not invariably divided in the War Department. 
Another solid fact is that administrative powers and responsibilities 
are concentrated in the Navy, while they are scattered in the War 
Department. If anything should go wrong in the Navy Department, 
the blame can be placed instantly, and, of course, the remedy can be 
instantly applied. If anything should go wrong in the War Depart- 
ment, the blame cannot be fixed with certainty, and in most cases 
there is no remedy without an organic revolution. The same blunder 
may be committed over and over again. 

Reorganization of the war-making machinery should be made 
with these facts in mind. In an effort to build up an efficient machine 
there should be no such blunder as the wrecking of the only machine 
that is efficient — the United States Navy. That blunder would be 
similar to the one made by Dr. Garfield, whose diagnosis of the fuel 
situation led him to prescribe knock-out drops instead of a stimulant. 

[155] 



THE SEARCH FOR EFFICIENCY 

Why not adopt for the War Department the efficient plan in 
operation in the Navy Department? There is no copyright upon it. 
One officer is responsible to the Secretary of the Navy for the pur- 
chasing and contracting of supplies for all divisions of the Navy. If 
one officer were responsible to the Secretary of War for the purchasing 
and contracting of supplies for all divisions of the Army the present 
chaos would disappear. Eventually, however, the task of utilizing 
the national resources for victory in war will necessitate the creation 
of a department for that purpose. 

England, in creating a Department of Munitions, did not break 
up its efficient admiralty purchasing organization. The British Navy 
Department's supply department, like the American, is kept intact 
and efficient. 

England found that the development and organization of man 
power was one thing and the development and organization of mate- 
rial resources was another thing. So it created a Department of 
Munitions. The United States will do the same after adversity has 
shown the necessity for it. There is no more reason why the Secretary 
of War should be charged with the duty of developing and organizing 
the industrial and natural resources of this nation than with the duty 
of supervising agriculture, which is a collateral war activity. Let the 
Secretary of War develop and train the nation's man power, and he 
will have his hands full, if it is done efficiently. 



[156| 



Monday, January 21, 1918 

Keep the End in Sight 

THE country seems to be in for another fit of depression, which 
may be ascribed to an overdose of overconfidence followed by 
a shock or two of realities. In many parts of the country there 
has been a persistent determination not to learn the truth. The minds 
of too many Americans have been closed to the fact that the United 
States is confronted by an enemy that is superior to this country so 
far as immediate ability to use resources for war is concerned. Ger- 
many has long been organized for war, politically and economically, 
while the United States has not been organized for war in any branch 
of the government. 

Too many Americans have compared the size of the German 
empire with that of the United States, and then reassured themselves 
that Germany would be glad to seek peace as soon as it was really 
convinced that the United States intended to make war on a scale 
commensurate with its size. The fact that a larger country than the 
United States lies alongside Germany, a huge derelict offering all its 
loot to the Germans, has made little impression with this class of 
Americans. 

Superior size means nothing in this war. Unorganized or un- 
utilized resources are equivalent to no resources at all. Man power 
that is not organized and trained and armed is equivalent to a popu- 
lation of women and children, subject to the conqueror. 

By the use of convoys and incessant patrolling by destroyers the 
United States has sent to France many ships without loss. The pass- 
ing of months without a disaster seemed to justify the overconfident 
Americans who reckoned that the mere prestige of the United States 
would demoralize Germany and paralyze her fighting arm. Germany 
apparently confirmed this error by avoiding a clash with Gen. Per- 
shing's divisions, although it is beyond question that these divisions 
were vulnerable. Germany's policy has been to lull the Americans 
into nonaction and overconfidence, and altogether too many of them 
have permitted themselves to be deceived. The work of preparing for 
the coming struggle has been greatly retarded by this widespread 
feeling of overconfidence and this inability to grasp the realities of 
the situation. 

Now, when a rude awakening is imminent, it may be expected 
that there will be outbursts of popular anger, directed against every 

[157] 



KEEP THE END IN SIGHT 

authority responsible for war preparation, from the President and 
Congress down to majors and captains. Joined with this anger will 
be depression among the intelligent and pessimism among the unin- 
formed. Demagogues will seize upon this passing opportunity to 
calumniate the administration. Many men will be eager to show 
how much better they could order affairs than President Wilson can 
order them. Congress will be asked to do all sorts of foolish things. 
Already the process has begun. 

The path that a sane American should pursue in these times is 
plainly visible. It is the path of moderation, calm confidence, cease- 
less vigilance and eagerness to learn every fact that will contribute 
to the success of the United States. The true patriot will be rather 
silent than vocal. He will be busy sifting out truth from error. He 
will keep his eye on public officials, and weigh them in the balance of 
actual trial. When they have proved their unfitness he will do what 
he can to have them removed to a place where they cannot do further 
damage, but in lopping off incompetence it is not necessary to tear 
down the structure that is being reared. 

There is no occasion for depression, just as there is no justifica- 
tion for overconfidence. The United States with its allies will defeat 
Germany in the end, for the good and sufficient reason that truth, 
right and liberty are reinforced by superior strength and resources. 
God is on the side of the heavy battalions, and the heavy battalions 
are on the side of liberty. The war is like a sea voyage, with its 
calms and storms. The true American will keep his heart and mind 
set on the end of the voyage, and the passing mishaps will not 
unduly depress him. 



[158] 



Thursday, January 24, 1918 

The Purse and the Sword 

UNQUESTIONABLY the movement in Congress for the creation 
of a "war cabinet" is caused by the widespread popular distrust 
of some of the men called upon to exercise great pow T ers under 
the President. This popular distrust, in turn, has been caused by 
the revelation of facts which no amount of explaining can make 
acceptable to the people. In the midst of much that is admirable 
there is much that is utterly without excuse in a nation that prides 
itself upon its industrial equipment and industrial capacity. The 
admirable is admitted, but, after all, it was expected. The inexcusable 
blunders are all the more condemned because they come as a stun- 
ning revelation of incompetence, and are in a way an indictment of 
the efficiency of the United States. Many Americans have been 
deeply chagrined by these disclosures. The self-satisfaction of the 
country has suffered a shock. 

At the same time, it is impossible to conceive how affairs would 
be bettered by a quarrel between Congress and the Executive, precipi- 
tated by an attempt on the part of Congress to compel the Executive 
to conduct the war according to its ideas and contrary to his own. 

Congress holds the purse, but it handed the sword to President 
Wilson on April 6. If it should now endeavor to regain possession of 
the weapon, every one except the German enemy will be cut and 
maimed in the melee. 

At this moment a quarrel has arisen in England which threatens 
to paralyze the activities of that nation to a dangerous degree. One 
of the newspapers in London comments upon the situation in words 
which are just as applicable in Washington as they are in London: 

"We cannot believe that the British nation, which owes so much 
of its success in history to the sobriety of its popular judgments, either 
desires such an orgy of destructive meddling and squabbling or will 
permit it to proceed. We have enough enemies to fight on the other 
side of No Man's Land. There must be no internal offensive to 
distract and paralyze our war." 

The United States, also, owes much to the sobriety of popular 
judgment. The people will have their way. It is useless to try to 
deceive the people or to oppose their will. What is their will in this 
threatened clash between the President and Congress? Obviously the 

[159] 



THE PURSE AND THE SWORD 

people oppose a quarrel — an "internal offensive," as the British journal 
calls it. The people look to Congress to keep a hand on the purse- 
strings, and they expect the President to wield the sword. This is 
the fundamental law, adopted by the people and never amended or 
repealed by them. 

When the President delegates to feeble or unfit hands any of the 
war powers, the people will attend to the matter in due time. The 
proper way to meet that situation is not by thrusting upon the Presi- 
dent a committee to wield the sword. Any President, finding his 
magic strength oozing away because of the ebbing confidence of the 
people, will surely try to regain his strength by casting off the influ- 
ences or persons who are threatening to ruin his administration of 
affairs. There need be no legislation by Congress to meet such an 
issue. 

On the other hand, the people will never desert the President dur- 
ing war. They will stand more compactly behind him. His strength 
comes from them, not from himself or from Congress. They will see 
that this strength is safeguarded for him. His mistakes, if any, they 
will endeavor to offset by appropriate counsel and friendly suggestion. 
His absolute and exclusive responsibility for the direction of military 
and naval affairs serves always as a reminder that he must have 
absolute and exclusive authority in that field. 

In a crisis the people of the United States would just as promptly 
restrain Congress from encroaching upon the Executive as they would 
disarm any Executive who should attempt to establish a military 
dictatorship. 



[160] 



Tuesday, January 29, 1918 
An Invention of the Enemy 

REPORTS from Vienna and Berlin exhibit a lively desire on the 
part of the German and Austrian foreign offices to make a 
catspaw of President Wilson. The hope is cherished that by a 
circuitous backdoor route the path to peace may be found. Appar- 
ently it is supposed by the Teutons that if they make the proper 
approaches to President Wilson he will use his influence upon the 
allied governments to induce them to give up such aims as the rehabili- 
tation of Belgium, the evacuation of northern France, the return of 
Alsace-Lorraine to France, the restoration of Serbia and Roumania, 
the freedom of Poland and other subject peoples, the transfer of Trent 
and Trieste to Italy, and the deposit of guarantees that Germany shall 
never run amuck again. 

The approaches to President Wilson are to be made through the 
Hapsburgs, whose hands are not quite so bloody as those of the 
Hohenzollerns. The intermediary in behalf of Germany is to be 
Count Czernin, the accomplished foreign minister of Austria, ably 
assisted by that consummate falsifier, Dr. von Kuehlmann, German 
minister of foreign affairs. 

President Wilson has been grossly maligned many times by the 
enemy during this war, but never before has the enemy presumed to 
regard him as devoid of intelligence. The attempt to impose upon 
him at this time, in the manner indicated, is less complimentary to 
him than anything that has been said by his most virulent critics. 
One of the Cologne papers, eagerly grasping at the suggestion that 
Count Czernin may deceive President Wilson, imagines that one of 
the first developments will be a downward revision of the President's 
fourteen essentials of peace. Perhaps he will throw Alsace-Lorraine 
overboard. Perhaps he will agree that Germany shall have her 
colonies back without prejudice. Possibly he will be satisfied by the 
mere withdrawal of Germany from Belgium. 

Notwithstanding the hubbub in Germany and Austria, the allies 
are not deceived. They know that when the Hohenzollerns suggest 
peace they are preparing for a treacherous stroke. On even* occasion 
before an offensive the Germans have carefully spread peace talk, 
calculated to catch the allies napping and inducing them to slacken 
their efforts on the battlefield. It is good strategy, but it lacks novelty 

[161] 



AN INVENTION OF THE ENEMY 

now, and the allies are no longer to be deceived. The only hope of 
the Teutons is that President Wilson, not having been long at war, 
may be more gullible than the rulers of the allied nations. 

The Hohenzollerns and Hapsburgs come to the wrong place with 
their peace propaganda. The Yankees have fought savages before. 

Another huge battle is imminent. The allies are ready for it. 
They have manned and gunned the line, and their ammunition is 
ample. The enemy has gathered immense forces, and doubtless a 
desperate effort will be made to break through the British or French 
line. America has not as many men on the front as she should have, 
but those in the trenches will give the enemy a taste of what is to 
come. 

In the meantime it is toward war, and not toward peace, that 
President Wilson turns his energies. Many wrong tendencies have 
been corrected, and much has been accomplished in spite of incompe- 
tent help. The inevitable weeding-out process will bring better execu- 
tives to the front, who will be able to transform President Wilson's 
clear-cut desires into accomplished facts. The United States knows 
that President Wilson understands exactly what it wants. It wants 
certain matters settled before it will be ready for peace. Peace is a 
fine thing, but it is not a substitute for national independence and 
human liberty. The two enemy nations having attacked the United 
States with intent to destroy it, there is to be a showdown. Count 
Czernin may say anything he pleases to his Austrian followers, and 
Dr. von Kuehlmann may outrival Count von Bernstorff in inventing 
brilliant substitutes for truth, but their utterances carry no weight 
with President Wilson or the American people. 

The final decisive answer to all German and Austrian peace pro- 
posals, past and to come, was made by Congress when it handed the 
sword to President Wilson and told him to use all the resources of 
the United States to carry the war to success. No victory, no peace. 



[ 162 



Thursday, January 31, 1918 
The Concentration of Power 

CONGRESS will do well to weigh carefully all requests for grants 
of power. Enormous powers, with indefinite extensions into the 
twilight zone of autocracy, have been granted since the declara- 
tion of war, and it has been found that the mere transfer of power 
to the executive branch does not solve the war problems. There is no 
relativity in the powers granted; hence the powers exercised by the 
food administrator may clash with those granted to the fuel adminis- 
trator. The President has been continually perplexed by the unex- 
pected evidence of interdependence of powers and faculties that were 
supposed when granted to be separate and distinct. 

One of the latest acts of the food administration is to try to 
reconcile its jurisdiction over food production to the jurisdiction over 
the same subject held by the Department of Agriculture. Both 
agencies cannot successfully occupy the same field at the same time, 
and yet both are required by law to go ahead and endeavor to 
encourage food production. 

"Coordination" is the most overworked word in Washington, and 
yet coordination in fact is as rare as radium. The War Department 
is overhauled frequently for the sake of obtaining coordination, and 
each reorganization is proclaimed as an accomplishment of the happy 
event; but a succeeding reorganization merely proves that coordina- 
tion is as far away as ever. 

No individual is to blame for this state of affairs. Every one is 
trying to succeed, and the spirit of loyal support of the President is 
universal. The bare truth is that Congress, after declaring war, ground 
out a hash of laws without coherence or boundaries, called them 
"war powers," and shuffled them over upon the President, together 
with billions of dollars, and called upon him to win the war. From 
April 6 to this hour President Wilson has been endeavoring to evolve 
a solar system out of the nebula? dumped upon him, and to set this 
system in orderly and harmonious motion. The creativeness of Con- 
gress was limited to a single burst of energy, and it was without 
form and void. 

Is the situation to be improved by adding to the uncertain powers 
already conferred? Is it an act of real cooperation with the President 
to impose upon him additional burdens? 

[163] 



THE CONCENTRATION OF POWER 

The investigations in Congress touching the War Department, 
the shipping board, and other activities are of great value. Much has 
been learned. Mistakes have been discovered which can be corrected 
and avoided. Better methods have been suggested, and new legisla- 
tion is an obvious consequence of the testimony. Congress will be 
asked by members of the various committees to study the situation 
carefully with a view to perfecting legislation that will accomplish 
specific results. It is in this manner that Congress can be of best 
service to the Executive in conducting the war. 

The discussion of proposed grants of power does not imply that 
power should be denied. Every unit of energy controlled by the 
government of the United States should be at the President's disposal 
in defeating Germany. But this energy should not be that of a 
band of uncouth gigantic maniacs, tearing at each other's throats and 
destroying themselves faster than they destroy the common enemy. 
It should be mechanized, elaborated, well-ordered and delicately 
adjusted energy, like the energy of a Niagara pulsating through a 
copper wire and controlled by a button at the President's hand. 

Great definite branches of this power should be under the imme- 
diate direction of the President's trusted advisers, sitting at his table 
daily during the war. No power should be without its controller, 
and no controller should be absent from the table. Whether the 
power be political, financial, industrial, mechanical, military, naval, 
legal, nautical, or any other necessary for successful war, it should 
be concentrated to a fine point and be subject to complete and instan- 
taneous control from the supreme council table. 



[164] 



Tuesday, February 5, 1918 
The Enemy at Bay 

/VLL SIGNS point to a colossal struggle on the western front 
j^"^ within a few days. It is quite possible that if the German high 
command does not order an offensive the allied command will. 
The armies are in battle array from Nieuport to Belfort, including the 
small but now well-trained American force which holds a portion of 
the Lorraine front. The Secretary of War goes so far as to express 
the opinion that the allies are numerically superior to the enemy in 
both men and guns. Whether this belief be well founded or not, 
there is no doubt that the allies are so formidably equipped with 
artillery that there is no possibility of the Germans breaking through. 
If the Germans attempt too much, relying upon numerical superiority, 
the allied artillery will surely remove the disparity. 

In spite of delays and mistakes, the American people are calm 
and confident. They look with fortitude upon the forthcoming bap- 
tism of the American troops, counting faithfully upon the dexterity 
and bravery of the men under the Stars and Stripes. 

There is a growing disposition to pass over the flaws that have 
been so persistently discussed in this country. The people as a whole 
are looking upon the unfolding war operations in a large way. They 
remember the difficulties and delays that confronted all the allies in 
trying to meet the sudden onslaught of the well-prepared enemy. 
When compared with other nations, the United States in most respects 
has made good progress. The most effective preparations are those 
that are not yet disclosed, and which will not be disclosed until the 
hour of battle. These preparations have been cumulative, with small 
beginnings growing into enormous productiveness. 

The most vexatious mixture of delay and confusion has been in 
quarters where the public had a right to look for efficiency. It is this 
fact which has caused so much bitter criticism. 

One of the comforts which any American can hug to his bosom is 
the thought that the enemy is not the all-efficient superman he has 
been pictured. Germany is in hard straits. The people are hungry, 
and the war's drains have sapped their spirits to the dregs. When the 
mailed fist must be shaken over Berlin, with the threat that strikers 
shall be court-martialed and executed, it is not difficult to foresee 
that another hard campaign ending in failure will smash the German 
machine. 

[165] 



THE ENEMY AT BAY 

Can the allies hold out against the most desperate assault the 
Germans can organize? There is every reason to believe they can. 
The French armies are in good condition, materially and morally. 
They have more big guns than ever before, and behind the guns they 
have better and more confident marksmen than ever. The French 
situation would be satisfactory in every way if America would only 
send over more food. It is a pity that Americans will not individually 
make it their business to save such foods as France requires. 

The British armies are in equally good condition, eager for the 
fray. Their artillery preparations are adequate. Their command of 
the lines is steadfast and vigilant. Transport facilities to the front 
have been greatly improved. There are more tanks than ever before. 
The Germans will find it impossible to surprise any portion of the 
allied lines. Any advantage gained by the enemy will be at extrava- 
gant if not ruinous cost of men, and at best this advantage will be 
local, and subject to immediate reverse by counter attack. 

Thus Germany stands at bay, forced to wage a fight that is lost 
to her before she begins it. What then? The rude awakening in 
Germany, when the deluded people finally understand that their 
drunken campaign of blood and conquest has ended in defeat. At that 
time, with the allies thundering at the gates, the uprisings in German 
cities will have a deeper meaning, and the mailed fist may have 
urgent business elsewhere than in Berlin. 



166 



Friday, February 8, 1918 

Reorganizing Executive Departments 

THE bill proposing to authorize the President to consolidate, 
create, abolish, merge, or otherwise modify executive agencies 
during the war is an astonishing suggestion. At first glance it 
seems to run counter to the fundamental spirit of the government. 

But when astonishment has been followed by quiet thought it is 
perceived that the bill is not only a logical development of the war, 
but is in harmony with the spirit of the government. More than this: 
The general plan embodied in this bill must be adopted if the United 
States is to turn away from inefficiency and exert its strength effec- 
tively to win the war. 

Senators say there must be a war cabinet and a department of 
munitions. The Executive says he must have power to deal as he sees 
fit with all executive departments and executive resources. Of these 
two proposals, that of the President is far superior and far better 
calculated to coordinate the nation's war powers. 

What the Senate committee desires is harmonious and vigorous 
executive action in all branches of war operations. That is the same 
thing the President is seeking. 

It is often forgotten that the executive power is lodged in the 
President, and not in the executive departments. The departments 
are creations of law, which may be abolished by Congress at will. 
They are merely conveniences through which the President executes 
the laws. In each department are loosely related or unrelated bureaus 
and offices, all of them being the visible attempt of Congress to facili- 
tate the multifarious activities of the executive. Some of these de- 
partments and bureaus are satisfactory, and others are not, depending 
largely upon the personality of the men selected by the President to 
act in his behalf. 

The proper selection of executive assistants is the most important 
work that can be performed by the President of the United States in 
peace or war. The creation, abolition, or merging of departments is 
an insignificant matter in comparison with the difficulty of choosing 
persons through whom to execute the nation's laws and the national 
will. 

The United States in time of peace possessed various executive 
departments designed to administer the affairs of a nation at peace. 

[167] 



REORGANIZING EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS 

On April 6, 1917, the United States changed its character and entered 
upon an undertaking more important than all the executive operations 
in peace times. This undertaking is nothing else than an effort to 
defeat by war the strongest military power ever yet developed in the 
history of the world; the object of the effort being to make it forever 
impossible for Germany to endanger American liberty and independ- 
ence. When the United States went to war, Congress made little or 
no provision for a change of executive establishments to accomplish 
the ends of war. Provision was made for a larger army and navy, 
but Congress and the country were singularly reluctant to reorganize 
the executive departments and thus place the government in a position 
to perform its greatest duty. 

Congress and the people have clung to the methods of peace 
while endeavoring to make effective war. The Executive, also, has 
been slow in proposing reorganizations which are necessary for the 
prosecution of the war. 

The "war powers" of the United States government have never 
been fathomed. It is unnecessary to try to fathom them. It is suffi- 
cient to know that the founders of the republic made full provision 
for a government strong enough to put down all enemies, foreign or 
domestic, if the people are inspired by the will to survive and triumph. 

The government thus empowered is not at present organized for 
war. The President, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and 
the executor of the laws, asks Congress to permit him to make such 
changes in the machinery subordinate to him as will enable him to 
make effective war. Why should there be any hesitation in changing 
the government from a peace to a war organization? Is it desired 
that the war should be prolonged, or fought to an indecisive finish? 
Is there lurking in the mind of Congress and the people a notion that 
the peace activities of ordinary times are more important than the 
war? 



[168J 



Friday, February 15, 1918 

Bolo and Boloism 

A FRENCH court-martial has passed the sentence of death upon 
Paul Bolo, commonly known as Bolo Pasha, for the crime of 
"intelligence with the enemy." The evidence of his guilt was 
overwhelming, and it is to be hoped that the sentence will be executed 
with promptness. 

Bolo Pasha is a Levantine, of that nondescript type immortalized 
by Du Maurier in his picture of "Svengali." These slippery, uncan- 
nily shrewd individuals appear sometimes "out of the mysterious 
East," equipped with oily tongues, insinuating manners, innumerable 
languages, inexhaustible worldly experience of the viler sort, an 
audacity and a capacity for crooked finance that are nothing short 
of marvelous. In his ability to make black temporarily appear white 
and in his agility to wriggle out of false positions Bolo has had few 
equals in history. 

It is quite possible that the very zest of worming his way through 
dangerous places partly inspired Bolo Pasha in his dealings with the 
enemy of France. He attempted great enterprises, and for a time 
deceived extremely able men. He has the doubtful honor of attaching 
his name to a system of German propaganda hereafter to be known 
as Boloism, which consists of carrying on campaigns of pacifism and 
discouragement in the countries opposed to Germany, in order to 
break down their morale. Bolo agreed to handle such a campaign 
in France, his object being to convince the French that Germany was 
invincible and that France would do well to make peace as soon as 
possible on the best terms obtainable. 

From the United States went the information that led to Bolo's 
arrest. He secured a transfer of large sums from Germany to France 
through American banks and a German agent in New York. The 
tracing of these transactions, together with the interception of dis- 
patches from Count von Bernstorff, gave the French authorities suffi- 
cient evidence upon which to complete their investigation of Bolo's 
activities. The whole story is one of absorbing interest up to date, 
and one or more chapters are still to be written. 

The news that Bolo Pasha goes to his death will fall like a heavy 
blow upon Joseph Caillaux, former premier of France, who awaits 
trial for treason. Caillaux, whose intellectual powers resemble those 

[1691 



BOLO AND BOLOISM 

of Bolo in their brilliance and crookedness, is now ensnared in a net 
of incriminating evidence from which it appears impossible to escape. 
He, too, may charge up to the United States government much of the 
evidence that urges him toward death. The United States forwarded 
to France the intercepted dispatches from Von Bernstorff which proved 
that Caillaux was in communication with the German government and 
giving it aid and comfort. 

There is Boloism in the United States as well as in France. Sooner 
or later a traitor to the United States will pay for his treason with his 
life. The workings of Boloism are so indirect that it is difficult to 
fasten the crime upon individuals, until or unless they become as 
audacious as Bolo or Caillaux. There is reason to believe, however, 
that the United States government has evidence in its possession 
which may become ultimately useful in sending traitors to the gallows. 

So let them go ! There is possibility of mercy in contemplating a 
spy, whose zeal for his country may have betrayed him into a trap. 
The spy is at least inspired by love of country. But the traitor has 
no redeeming trait. His hand is against his own flesh and blood, his 
own cradle, his own grave, and all that he should respect and hold 
dear. Death is really a reward to such a wretch as this, for it enables 
him to substitute oblivion for the scorpion lashings of his own con- 
science. But even though the penalty be light, in that sense, it must 
be inflicted. No nation can knowingly permit the communication of 
intelligence from its own bosom to the enemy. The individual guilty 
of such an act must die. 



[ 170 



Monday, February 18, : 
The Allien United at Lj 

THE crisis in England theresig- 

William J imperial 

taff j 

Dent it 1 
.- - . itary 

and t.v f 1915 th< 

the war from tbi 
authoril . d has 

I 

vning 
g 

This was a coi 

the t :nua- 

tion r . 

y diploic,: The supreno - 

recting the government. At 
. ining of a campaign . 
inform I the polit. 

basis of the war, the existing or pi .itical 

combinations whicl 

Hundrc 
having upon miliu; rise during a 

camp . d and 

t Britain I 
Ifohamm rinthei 

to maintaining _ in India, to und- 

milit g fittle nothing i 

tions the war. 1 i 

foreign office and the general staff. 

The Er:::^:. gfrr,<:r:~ stafi gro r fat 

f the political d "rolled 

milk : - rtunate. The allies 

much and gained little by theinten 

tern front . t o ' estaons of 

.' ■ moment in Russia, Italy and the Bah: 

[171] 



THE ALLIES UNITED AT LAST 

Unquestionably the influence of France and the United States 
has been exerted powerfully upon Mr. Lloyd George to reassert con- 
trol of British affairs by the political department, thereby opening the 
way for closer cooperation between England and the other allies. The 
two great premiers, M. Clemenceau and Mr. Lloyd George, have 
evidently determined to supervise and control their respective national 
operations, and to merge their control in the supreme war council. 

Bit by bit the supreme war council has been invested with real 
executive and directing powers over all the allied armies. It was an 
inevitable process. The British general staff opposed this process in 
vain. The British army, important as it is, is subordinate to the 
supreme needs of the hour, and must do its duty in harmony with 
other agencies for the winning of the war. 

No doubt there will be reverberations of this quarrel in parlia- 
ment. Demagogues may attempt to make capital out of the cry that 
British interests are sacrificed. So they may be, but so are French 
interests and American interests and all other allied interests. The 
war has reached a stage where every allied nation must make sacri- 
fices in order that the world may survive. Sir William Robertson 
could not see this, and out he goes. If Field Marshal Haig refuses to 
see anything but the British army, out he will go, also. 

The Germans make no distinction between enemies. They strike 
impartially at French or British or American or Italian armies, and 
count it a victory whenever they disable an enemy, whether in the 
east or west or south. The allies have been a long time learning the 
simple truth that if they do not work together they will perish sepa- 
rately. At last they have achieved unity of command in a supreme 
general staff, and the passing of Sir William Robertson is evidence 
that Great Britain is doing her share to make the union of the allies 
an accomplished fact. This is the best possible assurance that the 
allies will win the war. 



[172] 



Tuesday, February 19, 1918 

Germany's Unconquerable Foe 

EVERY disappointment encountered by the American people in 
their preparations for the smashing of the enemy merely inten- 
sifies their determination to accept no result except victory. 

Every setback to the United States emphasizes the importance 
of reaching the point where there shall be no setback. 

The only menace to the peace and happiness of the United States 
is the German system of assassinating other nations. With that menace 
removed the United States can easily and in its own time dispose of 
every question that may arise. Until that menace is removed no 
other question is of vital importance. 

Nothing that is under discussion here or abroad, nothing that 
Americans can be interested in, is of such importance as the continued 
independence of the United States, without asking the consent of any 
other nation. 

Until the German war power shall have been overpowered and 
compelled to give binding guarantees to respect the sovereign inde- 
pendence and national rights of the United States, there will be no 
peace, there cannot be peace, and there should not be peace. 

If the German people wish to have peace with America, they can 
assist by overthrowing their insane rulers, taking control of their own 
government and giving the guarantees which America demands. If 
the German people will not do this, they must suffer the consequences 
of the hardship and defeat that await Germany. 

Americans are keenly sympathetic toward the allied nations and 
toward all peoples that are striving for national existence and inde- 
pendence. But there is one thing that Americans regard with still 
more interest, and that is the unimpaired integrity and independence 
of the United States. If the Germans wish to know why the Ameri- 
cans will not quit this war without victory, no matter what other 
nations may do, let them consider why this nation was founded in 
the New World. 

It is not written in the stars of the firmament that the New 
World should wear shackles. Every obstacle that human or infernal 
malice could devise has been interposed in the New World to prevent 
the free operation of the principle of government with consent of the 

[173] 



GERMANY'S UNCONQUERABLE FOE 

governed, and that principle has swept them all aside from Cape 
Barrow to Cape Horn. The New World and its manhood are dedi- 
cated to that principle now and forever. 

For this reason it is possible for Americans to look with patience 
upon the unfolding of the fatal power that resides in liberty. The 
mistakes, blunders, passions, strikes, profiteering and all the other 
setbacks are minor matters, and every eddy that swirls about them is 
but evidence of the deep momentum of the nation. Down in his heart, 
below all the surface agitations of the day, every American under the 
Stars and Strips knows that this nation will never lay down the 
sword until the enemy asks for peace on America's terms. 

The stamp of insanity was placed forever on the murderous brains 
of Germany's saber-rattlers when they assailed the United States and 
other nations of the New World. Whatever Europe may say or do, 
this hemisphere will look to Berlin only for one object — to find and 
destroy the assassins of liberty. The German rulers may have enlarged 
the boundaries of the German empire and may have remained in 
power to enjoy the fruits of their crimes if they had not assailed the 
free governments of the New World. On that day and by that act 
they set in motion an irresistible force that will not rest until it has 
demolished the evil power that challenges the right of men to govern 
themselves. 

Presidents and congresses may come and go, and mistakes and 
quarrels may mark the process of armoring and massing and hurling 
this force upon Germany, but the nation that was not born to die or 
wear chains will determine its own fate and that of the enemy. 



[174 1 



Wednesday, February 20, 1918 

Powers United in Arms 

THE dog-in-the-manger role played by the military clique in 
England against the interests of the allies was fully exposed in 
the house of commons yesterday by Mr. Lloyd George. The 
critics of the supreme war council were placed in a most uncomfort- 
able position, and all that Mr. Asquith could say was that he wished 
Mr. Lloyd George had spoken sooner, and that criticism should not 
be silenced. If Mr. Asquith had gone so far as to attack the Ver- 
sailles plan he would have placed himself in the position of attacking 
the United States and the other allies, all of them having pressed for 
the creation of the unified war command. 

The American delegation, said Mr. Lloyd George, presented an 
unanswerable argument in favor of consolidation of control. It was 
this argument, backed by the sorry experiences of the allies under the 
rule of separate strategy, which induced the allies at Versailles to 
endow the war council with supreme executive powers in the strategic 
direction of the allied armies. 

Sir William Robertson emerges from this controversy with irre- 
parable damage to a brilliant reputation. He endeavored to disable 
the authority of the Versailles council by making its British repre- 
sentative a deputy of the chief of staff. This attempt having been 
overruled, Gen. Robertson refused to act on the war council and also 
refused to remain as chief of staff with curtailed authority. His real 
aim appears to have been the unhorsing of Premier Lloyd George and 
the extension of general staff control over the entire government, war 
cabinet, war council and all. Absurd as this idea may appear at this 
distance, it did not appear absurd to the military clique that had 
already arrogated to itself so much power in London. It is well that 
the late chief of staff is superseded by a soldier the peer of Robertson 
in ability and his superior in sense of the fitness of things. 

Premier Lloyd George could not explain to parliament the details 
of the composition of the supreme war council, because the subject 
involves consideration of plans now on foot to checkmate the enemy. 
It is sufficient for the public in allied countries to know that the 
powers arrayed against Mitteleuropa are now united in arms, with a 
central military body directing military operations. This great achieve- 
ment, so simple in theory and so difficult in practice, is the best pos- 

[175] 



POWERS UNITED IN ARMS 

sible assurance that Germany will lose the war. Her paramount 
advantage over her enemies has been central control and direction 
of her armed forces. This advantage is now neutralized by the allies, 
who employ the same tactics. It now becomes more than ever a 
struggle of resources against resources, and on such a basis the allies 
are assured of victory. The hastening of victory depends upon the 
energy of the allies in developing and employing their resources of 
men and material. 

All the ferocity, all the ingenuity, and all the strength of the 
German war power is to be hurled against the allied front in the west. 
The conflict is inevitable. Germany cannot much longer avoid the 
casting of the die. Her dynastic, economic and social integrity depend 
upon escape from the toils that entangle her. The savage beast will 
test out every weak point along the front. It is necessary that the 
allies shall become one compact, mobile force, capable of instan- 
taneous action anywhere along the line. With that mobility and 
unified action assured, the enemy is securely trapped and will accel- 
erate his own collapse by the violence of his exertions. 

The struggle will be long. Three months are required to prepare 
for a single day's battle on the modern scale. The forthcoming 
offensive will be a series of battles lasting probably until next autumn. 
Germany has at least 500,000 more men on the western front than she 
has ever had before. The allies have more men than the enemy, but 
the disparity is not overwhelming. 

It is a comfort to know that France, Great Britain and America 
are as one in meeting the coming attack. 



[176 



Tuesday, February 26, 1918 

The Future of Russia 

GERMANY accepts the abject proposal of the bolsheviki, which 
is that the representatives of the Russian "government" will go 
to Brest-Litovsk to sign a peace treaty on the terms laid down 
by Germany. Thus, so far as the German masters and the Russian 
marplots can arrange it, there will be no further fighting. The bol- 
sheviki are to withdraw from western Russia and turn the country 
over to the conqueror. The army is to be demobilized, the fleet 
interned, and Petrograd is to be delivered over as a hostage to the 
Germans. 

The world will never believe that this surrender of Russian terri- 
tory and honor was made by honest men. The belief is firmly fixed 
that the leaders of the bolsheviki, the men who really contrived Rus- 
sia's downfall, are traitors, in the pay of Germany. 

The betrayal is of stupendous consequence to the world. It 
changes the course of history in every nation. It realigns the forces 
of this war and tends to prolong the struggle beyond the ken of 
statesmanship. It aggrandizes Germany enormously, and injects into 
the famished and exhausted German spirit a fresh exultation and a 
hope of eventual victory over the great western allies. 

All this is evident. But we do not admit, as some American 
newspapers hasten to assert, that Russia is down and out, a mere 
territorial appendix of Germany. 

On the contrary, we believe that Russia will repudiate the 
attempted betrayal, throw off the bolsheviki, organize a stable popular 
government, and ultimately resume the war against Germany in an 
attempt to throw the invader out of Poland and contiguous Russian 
territory. 

The pusillanimity, treason and stupidity exhibited in the betrayal 
of Russia are not characteristic of any brave and liberty-loving peo- 
ple. The Russians are brave and liberty-loving, as has been proved 
thousands of times. They are peculiarly attached to their home land. 
They know what it means to be ground under the heel of arbitrary 
power. The suggestion that they will submit to German control does 
violence to Russian history, Russian nature and Russian aspirations. 

But, it is argued, the Germans are organized and the Russians 
are unorganized. Germany will fasten her grip upon Russia before 

[177] 



THE FUTURE OF RUSSIA 

the Russians can organize. True, the Germans will have their own 
way for a while; but only for a while. Two factors point with 
unerring certainty to the failure of Germany in Russia: First, the 
fact that Germany never has displayed and does not possess the 
ability to govern an alien people to the satisfaction of the governed; 
and second, the fact that the control of 180,000,000 human beings 
under German methods is an impossible task, except with the consent 
of the governed. 

Alsace-Lorraine has been kept bound to the German chariot by 
overwhelming brute force immediately at hand; but the binding of 
180,000,000 people occupying one-seventh of the habitable earth is 
another problem. 

Americans are told that an attempt to occupy and pacify Mexico 
would require a force of 200,000 to 500,000 men if the natives should 
resort to guerrilla warfare. Under the same conditions, how many 
Germans would be required to occupy and pacify Russia? 

Any attempt by the patriots of Russia to organize and throw off 
the Germans ought to have the assistance of the allies. This assis- 
tance may not be given until the bolsheviki are thrust out of power, 
but it is to be reckoned with. Japan is threatened with a deadly 
enemy in Asia, and cannot fail to take steps to stiffen Russian oppo- 
sition to the German advance. America can resume the delivery 
of war material to Russia whenever a provisional government worthy 
of respect has been established. The other allies can aid effectively. 

The sanity of Russia may be quickly restored by the shock of 
her catastrophe. The recovery and the rehabilitation may be remark- 
ably rapid. Russia at its worst will at least keep Germany extremely 
busy, and Russia at its best may yet cut the coils of the German 
constrictor at a dozen places. 



[1781 



Thursday, February 28, 1918 

No Peace Without Freedom 

IN SOME quarters the delusion is cherished that somehow, by trick 
and device, a peace will be patched up between the allies and the 
German combination. The hope is entertained that by indirec- 
tion the great belligerents will agree, not definitely settling all points 
in detail, but wiping everything off the slate by a magnificent declara- 
tion that everybody was mistaken in going to war. 

The thoughts of those who put peace above right are not clearly 
defined as to the terms of the general peace that they see in mirage, 
but their ideas as to the understanding to be reached by Germany 
and the United States are quite clear. They believe that the United 
States will judiciously keep silence regarding the rights of other 
nations, small or great, but particularly small; that America now 
sees that in demanding the demolition of German militarism it was 
asking too much, and will be satisfied with some assurance that this 
militarism will not be directed against America; that there is no 
grievance against Austria-Hungary; that it is not the business of the 
United States to remake the map of Europe; and that an expression 
of good will from the German people would be sufficient to wipe out 
all desire on this side to carry on the war. 

In short, these American defeatists are willing to purchase peace 
now at the expense of American rights. For the sake of peace they 
would sacrifice the allies. 

These hopes are vain. Peace cannot be had, even if all the 
pacifists and poltroons in the United States should come out into the 
open, in naked shame, avowing their cowardice and treason. 

The bolsheviki of Russia have just tried that plan of buying 
peace. If American pacifists wish an object lesson, let them look at 
Russia. Have the bolsheviki gained peace by throwing away terri- 
tory, liberty and honor? No; the booty gained by the Huns merely 
whets their insatiable appetite, and kindles in their remorseless heart? 
the thought that other nations possessing territory, liberty and honor 
will jettison these precious possessions if approached as the bolsheviki 
were approached, with a mixture of force and fraud. 

Every patriot in America is thankful that the war is making 
the breach between this nation and Germany too wide to be bridged 
by pacifist trickery, commercial bargaining, or cowardly surrender. 

r 179 1 



NO PEACE WITHOUT FREEDOM 

The war must go on until the sword that threatens America's liberty 
is beaten out of Germany's grasp, or until America, beaten, asks the 
lords of Berlin to extend their sway over the New World. 

The United States is not the pawn of pacifists, to deliver to Ger- 
many with the "understanding" that Germany will forbear from 
subjugating this hemisphere. The United States is beyond the point 
where it could honorably say to France, "We wish you well, but we 
cannot fight by your side." This nation cannot now tell the allies 
that it will withdraw if it can arrange private terms with the enemy. 

Once for all time, under the eye of Almighty God, the sword that 
was forged by Washington and France for the protection of liberty 
in this hemisphere is now drawn for the effective assertion and estab- 
lishment of liberty throughout the earth. When the Hohenzollerns 
and Hapsburgs started this war they set in motion the forces that 
cannot return to quiescence until mankind is under the universal 
system of government by consent of the governed. The terrible power 
for evil exercised by the enemy is excelled by only one power on earth, 
and that is the determination of men to be free. They are now 
compelled to act upon that determination. They must be free or die. 

It is more than unpatriotic to desire the end of this war before 
humanity shall have become free. It is impious. The heroic souls of 
the past send their message down. The blessing of heaven is upon 
the banners of the allied nations that are striking for the establish- 
ment of self-government among men. In the midst of this army of 
banners is the Stars and Stripes. The Americans marching under 
that flag are the hope of the human race. 



[180 



Saturday, March 9, 1918 
Germany Called to Account 

WITHOUT minimizing any of the advantages which Germany 
has gained by the temporary conquest of Russia and Rou- 
mania, it is well to take a broad view of the situation in which 
the belligerents find themselves. Is Germany now so much more 
powerful that the outcome of the war is rendered doubtful? 

Let it be granted that Germany can help herself to anything 
movable in Russia. Let it be assumed that Germany can actually 
rule Russia, at any rate for the next j'ear or two, to the extent that 
the Russians will not be able to revolt. Let it be assumed that Japan 
will not come to the aid of the allies. What is the situation in which 
Germany finds herself? 

The outstanding fact, paramount over all others, is that Ger- 
many is unable to escape a life and death battle with three enemies 
who are impregnably armed against her two great weapons, corrup- 
tion and brute force. Two of these enemies have been tested by 
Germany's strongest blows and Germany has failed to bring them to 
their knees. The third is an enemy more populous and resourceful 
than the other two, and its strength is fresh and unwearied. Broadly 
speaking, it has not yet begun to draw upon its immense reservoirs 
of man power and natural resources. Its war passions are not yet 
aroused to the point where obstacles to victory are brushed aside like 
chaff, whether these obstacles be enemy forces or misfits in the 
domestic war machine. 

Six months ago The Post observed that even if Germany should 
completely disable Russia and gain access to all Russian resources, 
she would still have to face the United States and defeat this nation 
in battle before she could permanently hold an inch of soil that is 
not her own. That is the case now. The downfall of Russia has not 
enabled Germany to extricate herself from the inevitable. She must 
give an account to the civilized world for the crimes she has com- 
mitted. The agents of the world, executing the summons upon Ger- 
many, are France, Great Britain and the United States. There is no 
possibility of dodging this summons. 

Germany tried by the strategy of the tiger's leap to pounce upon 
and tear France to pieces. She failed. Then she massed her brute 
force and attempted to hack France to death at Verdun. She failed. 

[181] 



GERMANY CALLED TO ACCOUNT 

Germany is not now assembling her dumb human cattle in France 
because she loves to feel the touch of French cold steel. She gathers 
her last forces because she knows, with a robber's cunning, that she is 
in a trap and must fight her way out or die. 

Germany will fight with all the ferocity of a tiger. She will use 
every weapon, every stratagem, and every ounce of strength she 
possesses. But she will fight in vain. The France that balked her 
twice stands indomitable, better armed and better skilled than ever. 
The British armies are there, stronger than ever, keener for fight, 
more advantageously posted than before. The Americans are there 
in respectable numbers, the advance guard of an army that will never 
cease to march upon Germany until victory sounds the call for peace. 

That is the situation. It foretells nothing but glory and victory 
for the hosts that are battling for the right. They are armed with a 
spirit that Germany does not understand and cannot find weapons 
against. Intrigue is as powerless as bullets in trying to destroy this 
chief arm of the allies. For once in the sad history of mankind, 
right is supported by might, and liberty is armed with death. Every 
lover of liberty throughout the universe should rejoice that the hour 
is at hand when the powers of evil will no longer be able to elude the 
grasp of the avenger. 



[182 



Wednesday, March 20, 1918 

Before the Battle 
ALL SIGNS point to the early beginning of a tremendous struggle 
^£~± between the allies and the enemy on the western front. Pre- 
liminary bombardments and raids are becoming more frequent 
and more violent. The energies of both sets of belligerents are de- 
tached from other fields and concentrated more and more upon the 
crucial line that separates Germany and civilization. There, in 
France and Flanders, will be fought the final battle which will deter- 
mine the fate of all the nations. The opening guns are even now 
rumbling, like thunder on the horizon, and the flocks of aviators are 
flying about like leaves before the storm. 

France, England, Belgium and America stand on free soil, under 
the open sky, and await the onslaught of the hordes that are seeking 
to destroy the right of men to govern themselves. The Hohenzollern 
and Hapsburg minions, numbering millions of trained troops, are 
obedient to the will of the war lords. The Hohenzollern-Hapsburg 
legions are trained to believe that they are not free — that their happi- 
ness consists in being governed by half divine individuals who inherit 
crowns bestowed upon their ancestors by Almighty God. These rulers 
are demigods to their deluded and soul-stunted subjects. The rulers 
have told their dupes that Germany is to rule the world; that incal- 
culable spoil is to be theirs, after glorious victories. 

The absence of individualism in the German hordes increases their 
efficiency in the mass, under skillful leadership. The battle will be 
desperate, since the world outlaws stake their all upon the issue. If 
they should win, the world and all its spoils will be at their feet. If 
they should lose, their crowns will fall, their dynasties will disappear, 
their hold upon their dupes will be broken, and government of the 
people, by tyrants, for tyrants will perish from the earth. 

All honor to the gallant allied armies and the American forces 
that are going into battle! The spirit of the Americans is admirable. 
They are amenable to discipline, eager to learn, full of cheerful cour- 
age, silent under petty annoyances and devoted solely to the desire 
to make their mark upon the enemy. Instances of individual heroism 
now coming from the American trenches are not surprising. They 
confirm the expectations of the people at home. The quick-witted 
youths from this country will see and learn much in a short time, 

[183] 



BEFORE THE BATTLE 

and from their observations will come suggestions for more effective 
fighting. 

Every man, woman and child in America has a duty to perform 
from this time forth, a duty that cannot be honorably or safely dis- 
regarded. This duty is to sustain the army at the front by every 
means in their power. Individuals cannot shirk this duty or put it 
off upon the "government." The people are the government. If 
they do not help the boys at the front the boys will not be helped. 
The government will transport food and war material only as fast as 
the people produce them. Ships will not build themselves; the people 
must build them. Food will not go to France and Italy and England 
to sustain those peoples unless Americans make it their individual 
business to see that food is created and saved. 

The enemy works with frenzied energy in every branch of effort. 
He is creating and saving food, building submarines and airplanes, 
drilling men, drafting women and children for labor, and making 
every endeavor to defeat America and her allies. What Germany has 
accomplished by single-minded devotion and industry is marvelous. 
What America can accomplish with one-half of Germany's devotion 
and industry is still more marvelous. But there is a vast difference. 
Germany has actually performed a marvel, while America's greater 
marvel remains to be performed. One is a fact, the other a hope. 

The unconquerable spirit of America must be roused to a greater 
pitch. The self-denial and dauntless devotion that created America 
must now be exercised to save America. The fate of the free world 
hangs upon the will and spirit of the people of America. After a 
hundred years of boasting that liberty's home is in America, the 
powers of evil now challenge America to prove that free men in a 
free government can maintain their liberties. The people of the 
United States are literally compelled to test by battle whether their 
republic is to live or die. 



[184] 



Monday, March 25, 1918 
The Critical Hour 

THE driving force of the German attack, tremendous as it is, 
diminished perceptibly yesterday. Although the enemy forces 
gained some ground, it was less than the gains of Friday and 
Saturday. By tonight, at yesterday's failing rate, the German momen- 
tum will be spent, and the gray legions will be marching to death 
against immovable guns. 

The German high command may be preparing another blow at 
another point on the line. That is, the fighting west of St. Quentin 
may be a feint covering a still more formidable assault elsewhere. 
There is solid ground, however, for the belief that the next 48 hours 
will definitely develop the fact that the German empire has struck its 
deadliest blow, with all its might, and has failed. 

The developments of Sunday did not make absolutely clear the 
objective of the enemy. This objective is either Paris or the channel 
ports, as the battle stands. Some of the reports tend to establish the 
conviction that the enemy's real object is to flank the British army 
by driving between the British and the French and gaining the chan- 
nel coast, say at the mouth of the Somme. If this should be accom- 
plished, the British army would be in a serious plight, cut off from 
reinforcements from the Franco-American armies, and in danger of 
being cut off from Calais and Boulogne. The surrender of the British 
and Belgian armies would be in sight. 

If Paris is the objective, the fighting must soon take a trend 
toward Soissons, and the French forces will quickly be engaged. The 
Franco-American scrimmage with the enemy yesterday does not 
appear to have been of much magnitude, although the German report 
states that the allies suffered heavy losses. For vanity's sake 
Emperor William and Hindenburg would like to capture Paris, which 
is a standing mockery of German military power so long as it is un- 
captured. The German leaders therefore may be tempted to turn aside 
from the enemy they hate most, the British, in order to make their 
long postponed visit to the boulevards. 

They are welcome to try to visit Paris. The Parisians and other 
Frenchmen are waiting to receive them. The Marne still flows to the 
sea under the tricolor of France, and there is a battlefield there which 
the Germans cannot have forgotten. 

U85 1 



THE CRITICAL HOUR 

As Premier Clemenceau's newspaper remarks, every shell hurled 
against the French drives more deeply into them the determination to 
fight to victory. The fighting hammers them into a harder and more 
compact mass, capable of greater resistance, and more likely to shatter 
into bits the hammerhead that beats against it. 

All honor to the indomitable spirit of France and England! They 
are glorious allies, brothers standing shoulder to shoulder in de- 
fense of civilization! America should be electrified by the news 
from France. The guns whose roar is heard in London are firing at 
the heart of America. American boys died yesterday in defense of 
the Stars and Stripes. The brutal tramplers upon human rights dared 
to strike down the boys from American homes who went forth to 
defend liberty. If the manhood of the United States were sunk deeply 
in lust of money, if American women were voluptuous slaves of lux- 
ury and sin, if American youth were dissipated and vain puppets, still 
the old spirit of 76 would rise at the sight of the German brutes 
trampling upon the American flag. Thank God, America is not a 
decadent nation. It has a right to stand by the head of those virile 
nations, France and England, and strike death blows at the enemy 
of freedom. 

Americans! Pay no attention to mistakes of the past. Your 
faces are to the future. Do not pick flaws. Never mind the critics 
and the fault-finders. Your enemy is before you. Your boys are 
facing him. As the German hordes sweep forward the blood of 
Americans is spilled. It is for you, here at home, to see that every 
drop of this blood shall count in the victory of liberty. 

America's time has come. She must make good her liberty or 
go under. 



[186] 



Wednesday, March 27, 1918 

The Tide of Battle 
ANOTHER day of unprecedented fighting by the great armies 
j[~\^ on the western front has closed with the welcome news that the 
Germans have been checked, that Americans are fighting shoul- 
der to shoulder with their allies, and that French reinforcements are 
solidifying the allies' stand west of Roye. 

It may be that the next 24 hours will witness the turning of the 
tide of battle. Soon, in any event, the allies will counter-attack. The 
Germans have penetrated into the allied lines as far as safety will 
permit. If it is the plan of the supreme war council to fall back as 
far as possible, in order to extend the German line and open the way 
for a more effective counter attack, the appearance of the allied 
reserve forces may be looked for within a few hours. 

The imagination recoils from the picture immediately behind the 
German advance. So furious has been the assault, and so deadly has 
been the British fire, that tens of thousands of wounded Germans 
must have been left in the wake of the invaders, and are now suffering 
and dying after lying from one to five days without water, food or 
attention. The imperial maniac whose crown is in danger is not only 
slaughtering his men by the tens of thousands, but he is driving on 
without paying the slightest attention to the wounded and dying. The 
dictates of humanity, which are powerful even on the battlefield, 
make no impresssion on the madman who slaughters friend and foe 
alike in his frenzy. The sun and moon have never looked down upon 
a ghastlier or more appalling sight than that which unrolls itself in 
the path of the Germans. The German nation will feel these losses 
for a century to come. The mad emperor is literally amputating 
Germany. 

Well, let them die. German science, religion and culture have 
culminated in a race that worships evil. The German people delib- 
erately turned from good to evil. They exalted falsehood. They set 
up the god of brute force in place of the Lord God of Israel and the 
Redeemer. They applauded the monster whose diseased body and 
mind proved him to be a true Hohenzollern. They supported him in 
every effort he made to drench the world in blood. They shared in 
the spoils, and eagerly robbed their neighbors. They committed 
themselves absolutely to the plan of conquest by the sword. They 

r 187] 



THE TIDE OF BATTLE 

have gathered strength by evil, and with drunken confidence they 
are now striking at the heart of civilization in the hope of making 
the whole world slave to Germany. 

Where are the pacifists and cowards in the United States who 
dare look on the scene in France, and then oppose the arming of this 
nation of free men? Where are the skulkers and slackers, the defeat- 
ists and the disloyalists? Let them consider what is going on. Has 
it not been plain from the first that the United States must fight the 
German people to a finish? It is American vs. German, individually 
and collectively. Either Germany or the United States must go down. 
The battle may be won for America by its indomitable allies, France 
and England. If not, if the present battle ends in German gains, the 
entire American nation will be face to face with the terrible reality 
of a death struggle or surrender. 

The tremendous unorganized power of the New World must go 
into the fight. This nation, colossally stronger than Germany in every 
fighting resource, must forge its weapons of death on a scale worthy 
of its might. Assuming that England and France will gloriously beat 
the German hordes back, nevertheless the allies will be forspent with 
their exhausting efforts. They will be short of supplies and food. 
Out of the inexhaustible stores of America must go the stuff for the 
strengthening of the nations that battle against our enemy. Out of 
the manhood of this nation must go the power that will turn the 
scales of war and enable combined civilization to strike the fatal blow. 

Steel your hearts, Americans! Broaden your understanding; 
strive to see the whole truth; put away childish things. Your affairs 
are nothing, your liberties are gone, your country is a dream unless 
your head understands, your heart resolves, and your hand acts. 



U88] 



Thursday, March 28, 1918 

Liberty's Flags Flying 

FOR a solid week the most perfectly organized and heavily rein- 
forced army in the history of the world has been striking on the 
breastplate of civilization, frantically endeavoring to make a 
breach through which to drive a mortal blow. The onslaught has 
been so terrible that the defending force has yielded ground. But the 
defense has also been so firm that the enemy has not made a breach. 
He is now lying outstretched, breathing hard, unable to gather force 
for another leap, and visibly vulnerable to a retaliatory stroke. 

The immediate objective of the enemy is now Amiens, if it was 
not his objective from the first. The battle has developed unexpected 
tough spots, as battles always do, and the enemy's main forces have 
been swerved aside when they expected to break through. Taken as 
a whole, however, the German drive has been direct. It has conformed 
to the invariable rule of drives in this war, wherever the defending 
forces were strong and stubborn, the rule being that unless the impact 
of the first day's onrush fails to demoralize the defenders, the drive 
as a whole is a failure. The ground gained is a cruelly small return 
for the number of lives lost in gaining it. In the present instance the 
battle ground is mere desert, worthless to either side except as a 
bridge to something beyond. 

"Put me back at Cambrai and give me back my legions," may be 
even now the secret cry of the German emperor, when he feels the 
recoil of his armies dashing in vain against the ramparts of the world. 
His forces stand in a land of ashes and dead men's bones, victors of a 
few rods of burial ground; and on the ground are strewn as many 
Germans, dying and dead of wounds and thirst, as there are buried 
in the twice-fought field. 

Between the German dragon and its wrath stand the panting but 
invincible heroes whose breasts are the walls of liberty. Behind them 
is Paris, and behind Paris is London, and behind London is Washing- 
ton. Americans are among the defenders, and somewhere in the midst 
of fire, smoke and rain of steel are the Stars and Stripes, flying with 
fierce joy in the tempest. Small in numbers, but dauntless against any 
odds, these Americans are the couriers of the millions that must and 
will go across seas to carry the flag forward. 

The world is still stupefied by the events of the last four years. 
America, distant from the battle, is even yet unable to understand the 

[189] 



LIBERTY'S FLAGS FLYING 

scope of the task that is imposed upon her. She has been drowsy, 
misled by false estimates, credulous, stupidly overconfident at one 
moment and absurdly pessimistic the next, engrossed in trifles, and 
persistently clinging to the notion that the war is an accidental storm 
that will soon blow over without reaching her. Truth has been sup- 
pressed and lies have been told by persons in authority. The people 
have been lulled into ignorant confidence or shocked by grotesque 
exaggerations. But the spirit that makes men free lives in America, 
and the power to maintain freedom resides in America. Tremendous 
as today's battle may be, and however terrible the danger, it is simple 
truth to say that the battle between America and Germany is still 
to come. It will end only with the prostration of Germany or the 
collapse of the United States, because it is the irreconcilable conflict 
between freedom and slavery. 

Every American heart should go out to ever-glorious France 
and heroic England for the sacrifice they are now making in the cause 
of liberty. All honor to their gallant sons, those who now stand 
fighting our fight, and those who have shed their blood for us! God 
stir the hearts of the Americans who have in their charge the arming 
of this nation for battle! God grant that America's trusted com- 
mander shall quickly amass the conquering forces of this republic, on 
a scale worthy of the New World, and hurl them with merciless force 
upon the enemy! 



[190 1 



Friday, March . 

The Enemy's L sing V _-Lt 

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experience rgeon, ercipl a pel with intent to reach a ~ 

skill disp. 
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natior. rage nation slayers - . - mi _ 

must rets of nature peo- 

ples of allied countries .raw upon thei 

and optimism to eke out the - rmation regarding 

.r in mind that the uncon- 
- piril f Franc* Rnglaml i= the i^oul off 

-.-:.: rtillery - twart and quick- 
witted men. and abundant supplie- short and well- 

\ort line. It Bhould not be . . tten that when 14 
Lloyd . and other- refes U superior numbers 

point ol ' >nd not to the whole western 

It may be that the allied counter attack now under way will find the 
- that point vastly outnumbered. 

not unexpected. The 
purposes of this attack doubtless siref the British 

army, which may as well be disn.:-- Teuton rainbow vis 

to drive into the British a new pincer jaw. which might be 
swung to connect with the jaw now extending toward 

ns, taking in all of the Nash forces in that region, and a 
to prevent the Br - m diverting troops to the Am: :on or 

from making a counter g inst the northern flank of the 

man forces now stretched out from Arras to Alb- 

Field Marshal B if may be depended upon to keep out b 
and to spring one or two himself. He is in touch with the French 
rmy and the Franco-British reserve arm; 7 Ihes 

[1911 



THE ENEMY'S LOSING FIGHT 

doing magnificent teamwork. Nowhere have they been so mistaken 
as to sacrifice men in an unnecessary stand against locally superior 
numbers, and everywhere they have kept in contact with the enemy 
and collected a death tax that is as debilitating as cutting his arteries. 

The battleground between Cambrai and Albert is a scene of 
appalling desolation, but still more appalling is the harvest of German 
dead and wounded gathered by the allies on that field. The dead 
vegetation and gashed earth can be restored to France, but the dead 
and dying Germans can never be restored to Germany. The imperial 
maniac and his accomplices are mutilating and bleeding the German 
nation in their frantic and vain assault upon the strongholds of human 
liberty. Those strongholds will never be taken by mortals, for they 
are the deep-laid foundations upon which man has labored toward 
his Maker. The protection of heaven is upon and around the towers 
and foundation stones of those nations that are now fighting the 
victorious fight for freedom. Were the German empire twice as 
savage, and its war machinery twice as powerful, it could not batter 
down the structures which represent all that mankind has achieved 
since the birth of Christ. 

In strict truth, Germany's legions are dashing their lives out 
against an invisible impregnable rock, the rock of liberty. It is the 
human soul that they are attacking. Their defeat was ordained and 
prepared for them from the foundation of the world. It is in the 
nature of humanity that it shall destroy its enemy. France and Eng- 
land are merely the advance guards of continents and hemispheres 
that are moving to save human freedom. 



[192] 



Saturday, March 30, 1918 

United for Triumph 

ON ONE vital point the allies and Germany are agreed — that 
there will be no peace until there is victory on the western 
front. Germany is trying to win a German peace by attacking 
the three strongest powers in the world, which draw their resources 
from the ends of the earth. Knowing that he cannot win if the strug- 
gle is prolonged until the United States has delivered in France an 
army commensurate with the resources of this nation, the enemy is 
striking now, while he is at the climax of his powers as a result of the 
Russian collapse. He is using the only possible method available to 
a man or a nation that must break through a ring of enemies ; that is, 
he is opposing his flesh to steel, hoping that the violence of the rush 
will carry him through before the slaughter becomes total. 

Germany knows that the present battle is crucial and climacteric. 
Hence the fury that marks the German attack. All that has been 
gained is nothing if Germany loses now. All the blood of Germans 
spilled, all the booty captured, all the conquered territory occupied, 
all the crimes committed profit Germany nothing unless the great 
allies are beaten. The spoils of Asia might be piled upon the loot of 
eastern and southern Europe and Russia, and the name of Germany 
might be a terror from Belgium to Bangkok, but it will be emptiness 
and vanity if the three great defenders and avengers of civilization 
are moving against Berlin to demolish the throne of the Hohenzollerns. 
Thus upon this battle hangs all that has gone before. 

The allied powers are acting in better harmony than ever before. 
The terrible menace of the German has compelled them to throw away 
all other considerations for the sake of common victory. The fact 
that they have done this, that they have arrived at this conclusion, is 
double insurance of triumph. The message delivered by Gen. Per- 
shing to Gen. Foch expressed the fixed purpose of the nation that 
draws its strength from the illimitable resources of the New World. 
President Wilson's congratulations to Gen. Foch breathe confidence 
in victory through unity of the allies. Under command of the 
strategist who was Gen. Joffre's right arm at the battle of the Marne, 
the allies are now in a position to cut to pieces the enemy force that 
occupies the territory between St. Quentin and Montdidier. 

Bad weather has put a damper upon the fighting, although both 
of the huge antagonists are carrying on operations that would be 

[193] 



UNITED FOR TRIUMPH 

called buttles in ordinary times. Whether the Germans will persist 
in trying to bore their way further toward Amiens, in spite of their 
horrible losses, or whether they will mark time there and seek to make 
new inroads elsewhere, they are in for checks, reverses, counter attacks 
and eventual defeat in either event. Their lines are stretched out so 
far that their transport difficulties are bearing them down. They 
are ahead of the protection of their heavier guns, and under the 
accumulated fire of allied guns. So desperately have the Germans tried 
to break through that they have wasted the bulk of their resources. The 
allies have saved their reserve army and can now employ it to deliver 
a sledgehammer stroke at the enemy's weakest point. Gen. Foch 
may be depended upon to find the enemy's jugular vein. 

A few more days and the world ought to be free from the pos- 
sibility of German victory. On the heels of that welcome news will 
come the successive announcements of German reverses and the in- 
evitable defeat. The hours are big with fateful events. The decisive 
moment when the German flood is to break against the rock of civili- 
zation is seemingly at hand. Days and weeks may pass before the 
flood is perceptibly lower, but the allies will surely feel, in the 
tension of battle, just when the climax has been reached and passed. 
From that moment it will be the task of the trustees of liberty to 
thrust back the defilers of France and Belgium; to beat them down 
to exhaustion and surrender. When the Hun finds he is beaten he 
will assist the allies to make the collapse complete, for he is yellow 
at heart, a worshiper of brute force whose religion leaves him in the 
lurch when he is overmatched. When the German force begins to col- 
lapse, look out for an epidemic of suicides, from the emperor down 
to the beastliest sergeant. 



194 



Wednesday, April S, 1918 

Facing Hohenzollern 

THE integration of 100,000 or more American soldiers into the 
British and French armies on the western front, to meet the 
emergenc}' created by the German assault, is highly praised by 
the British and French press and public. The willingness of the Amer- 
ican authorities to merge their regiments for the time being in allied 
units is accepted as the best of evidence that the United States is in the 
war for the sole purpose of defeating Germany, and is not actuated 
by any false ideas of military glory or exaggerated national self- 
esteem. America's President knows that the American troops are not 
yet sufficiently trained as an army, the generals know it, and the 
soldiers know it. They are all, however, anxious to share in the 
fighting, and the arrangement just effected is most gratifying to the 
American army and people. 

The United States army in France will be far more efficient as a 
result of its service with the allied forces than if it should remain as a 
distinct force. In due time, as the army increases in size and effi- 
ciency, it can gradually draw unto itself all American regiments. 

There is something more than sentimental pride among Ameri- 
cans when they contemplate the scene spread out in Picardy. They 
are inspired by pride, it is true, but they also look upon the situation 
with a keenly practical eye. They desire above all things the early 
defeat of the enemy. The killing of Germans is the business that 
called Americans to France, and the sooner they attended to this 
business, and the more thoroughly they accomplish it, the better for 
all concerned. One hundred thousand Americans mean an access of 
confidence, pluck, steadfastness and fighting strength to encourage the 
indomitable armies of France and England. The American flag will 
be always in sight during the battles, and it will convey a message of 
loyalty and victory that will reach the heart of every soldier in the 
allied ranks. 

The giant antagonists are preparing for another struggle. The 
enemy is bringing up big guns and massing his divisions in the hope 
of taking Amiens or cutting the Paris-Amiens railroad. The allies are 
determined that he shall do neither. They will fight to the last ditch 
rather than fall back from Amiens. The battle clouds now forming 
are blacker and more full of wrath than any tempest that has burst 

r 195 1 



FACING HOHENZOLLERN 

during this war. If Hohenzollern and his captains were desperate on 
March 20, when they struck with all their might in the hope of break- 
ing through the allies, they are doubly desperate now, having failed 
to break through and being face to face with the consequences of 
defeat, with all that defeat means in Germany. Hohenzollern will 
pour out lives like a torrent for the sake of saving his crown and his 
dynasty. He has Germany to squander, and he will squander it 
rather than lose his crown and his life. 

He is at his last stand. He is so deep in blood that it is easier 
to wade through than to turn back. He cannot turn back if he would. 
The civilized world is at his throat. Murders innumerable cry for 
vengeance. Nations slain are rising to haunt him. Belgium accuses 
him, Serbia points a bloody finger at him, Poland's millions cry out 
against him. Blood will have blood until the debt is paid. Justice 
wields the avenging sword. Hohenzollern appealed to the sword, and 
he and his house must perish by the sword. 

The slaying of Americans and the attempt upon the life of 
America places the United States in the list of those nations that are 
called upon by inexorable fate to destroy Hohenzollern and his system 
of blood and murder. The nations cannot escape their duty. It is a 
sin to delay the performance of it. The days in which Hohenzollern 
sees the sun are days of monstrous and abominable crimes against 
mankind. May those days be few! 



[196 1 



Saturday, April 6, 1918 
End of the First Year 

ONE YEAR ago today the United States went to war against 
Germany, and began the vast and complex task of organizing 
the nation for making war on the scale made necessary by the 
enemy's power. The most difficult part of the task was and still is 
the awakening of the American people to the true nature and scope of 
the danger that confronts them. For many months the notion pre- 
vailed that the allied nations would "look after the Germans," thus 
enabling the United States to shirk the greater part of its duty. It 
seemed impossible to shake the conviction in American minds that 
the war would end within a few months by some means other than 
hard fighting. 

On April 6, 1917, many Americans believed that the mere declara- 
tion of war by the United States would bring hostilities in Europe to 
an early end. They were convinced that Germany would not dare to 
continue the war with the United States added to the list of enemies. 
Others cherished the notion that assistance in the blockade of Ger- 
many and the financial aid given to the allies would constitute the 
share of the United States in the war. They did not believe that an 
American army would be needed in France. 

On April 6, 1918, the American who does not believe that the 
United States must exert its full strength for victory is a poor citizen, 
intellectually and otherwise. The vast majority of Americans are 
now girded up mentally, awake to the situation, eager to help, and 
looking ahead toward victory after a hard fight. American young 
men, especially, have developed a wonderful spirit in the year that 
closes today. The slouching, dissipated, impudent lout who seemed 
to typify young America has disappeared, and in his place there is 
an erect, active, courteous and serious-minded American in the uni- 
form of his country and with the ideals of his country stamped upon 
his heart. This one improvement is worth all that the war has cost 
up to the present moment. It is now safe to say that Germany can- 
not count upon American degeneration and dissipation to help de- 
stroy liberty. 

The year has seen wonderful development toward war organi- 
zation in many branches, and exasperating delay in other branches. 
This newspaper and many others have been in possession of reliable 
information which might have been published for the purpose of 

[197] 



END OF THE FIRST YEAR 

discrediting officials who failed to measure up to high standards. 
But some of these men were evidently the victims of national inertia 
and governmental neglect, and the press has usually deemed it wise to 
refrain from severe criticism when it was plain that officials were 
doing their best. The first year of war ends with an infinitely better 
national spirit, and therefore official neglect or inefficiency will be 
inexcusable in the year now beginning. 

The United States is now in a position industrially to overwhelm 
the enemy with all the weapons of war. Germany's boasted re- 
sourcefulness in manufacture is dwarfed by the giant equipment of 
the United States. What Germany has accomplished in 40 years of 
secret preparation the United States is now ready to excel in one 
year. It does not matter what weapon is mentioned — ship, cannon, 
airplane, rifle, machine gun or bomb — the United States during 1918 
can and will pass Germany's output, and in some particulars has al- 
ready done so. The preparations made during 1917 and in 1918 
up to date have not been visible always, but they have made it pos- 
sible for the year 1918 to witness the transportation to Europe of 
enormous quantities of war material. 

The enemy is striking with desperate determination to break 
down the allies. The German emperor is at the critical period of 
his life and his dynasty. If he cannot defeat the allied armies this 
summer he must die and his throne will fall. Fate draws remorse- 
lessly the fatal net around his accursed house. He drew the sword 
against civilization and liberty. In self-defense their sword will 
pierce him through. In the struggle there is no room for nice dis- 
tinctions or polite considerations. As Hohenzollern goes down in 
blood his throne will topple also, and the seed of the Hohenzollerns 
will be trodden under foot. If German mobs, torch in hand, set fire 
to the Hohenzollern palaces and shoot down the Hohenzollerns them- 
selves, the tumult will be merely a repetition of the innumerable re- 
actions recorded in history. 

America moves into her proper place as a full partner of France 
and England, the defenders of civilization. The present assault will 
shatter itself against the unconquerable hearts of France and Eng- 
land. It is the glory of the United States that American lads stand 
in battle, with their flag above them. The three nations are now 
delivering the death blow to the hopes of Hohenzollern. He can- 
not break them down. Let him struggle. By his own efforts he 
hastens the day of his doom. 



19S 



sday, April 11,1918 

The End Is Victory 

THE attack upon the British lines between Armentieres and 
Messmea is apparently \ ginning of an operation com- 

parable to the tremendous drive toward Amiens. The 
mans gained 4% miles and have captured many guns and prisoners. 
Armentieres is placed in an awkward position, and in the meantime 
the artillery onslaug grows gres" id of weaker. The 

mans seem to be determined upon nothing - -'r.an smashing through 
the British line, if reckless slaughter of men can accomplish the feat. 

A* last - the British line was strong, although 

bent sharply back. There is no sign of a break, and still less of any 
disorganization. 

A* the -oath end of the active fighting line the Germans are 
wasting men at a furious rate in futile efforts to break through the 
French line. There, as in Flanders, the supply of German soldiers 
appears to be inexhaustible, despite the terrible slaughter. 

On the front before Amiens the Americans have joined the 
British army. Fighting on a large scale is immediately ahead of the 
American-. They are eager for it. and the evidence of British and 
French experts is unanimous to the effect that the American troops 
are now trained for battle. The public in the Unite EM tea must be 
prepared to receive reports which will make preceding recitals of 
American activity seem trivial indeed. 

So matters stand on the western front — the contact-point where 
the live wires cross and carbonize men by the tens of thou- 
The allied nations must face the immediate future with resolute 
hearts, for the battle toll will be heavy and the outcome will be un- 
certain for a while, in spite of great sacrifices. But the allied peoples 
can also comfort themselves with the thought that their strength is 
gaining while the enemy is waning. The end of the struggle is 
victory. The German people are suffering more than the peoples 
of allied countries, and before them they have the specter of 
defeat. Germany is consuming rapidly. The frantic exertions of her 
armies are literally the expenditure of the remaining vital force of 
the German nation. While the crazy emperor and his chief slaughterers 
are willing to kill off the manhood of the German nation at the 
present rate, the allied nations most lit to count their own 

[199] 



THE END IS VICTORY 

losses lightly, for the sake of a speedy and certain victory which will 
mean the end of German aggression forever. 

It is the suicide of an empire that the world is beholding. The 
suicide is striking out madly, trying to kill others. Armed with great 
weapons, and hindered by no scruple that would restrain sane minds, 
the Germans are sending themselves to the grave rather than abandon 
their attempt to conquer the world. Insane, ghastly, horrible as 
the thought may be, it remains a fact that the twentieth century is 
witnessing the butchery of humans on a scale of savage atrocity that 
would have appalled mankind in the darkest and bloodiest ages. 

There is but one course to pursue: To prepare and endure 
to the end. France and Great Britain stand gloriously firm. America 
proudly goes to their side, resolved to fight to the end for the triumph 
of liberty. The greater the desperation of the enemy, the greater 
will be the sacrifice of the heroes whose breasts are the walls of 
freedom. The more savage the assault, the more costly it will be, 
and the more determined the resistance. 

France has long utilized every available man and woman in the 
republic. Great Britain is now arranging to raise the military age 
limit and extend conscription to Ireland. Every man in the British 
empire is expected to do his duty. It must be the same in America. 
Every man here must be ready to serve his country. The battle in 
France has begun with German gains ; it must end with allied victory. 

All honors to the advance guard of America, the little force that 
now holds the Stars and Stripes aloft in the hell of battle! These 
men are the fortunate of their nation. They are heroes and the com- 
rades of heroes. In after times their names will rank with those of 
the heroes of Valley Forge. It is a glorious day for the youths who 
carry the flag to France. To them is given the honor of making 
liberty perpetual by striking down the last dangerous enemy. May 
they strike hard, and may the power of the New World be con- 
centrated in their stroke! 



200 



Friday, April 12, 1918 

The Rugged Road 

WITH dauntless courage the British army north of Arras is 
standing up against superior numbers of men and guns. The 
weight of the hostile attack is forcing the British line back 
here and there, but nowhere is there any gain for the Germans ex- 
cept in small pieces of ground, purchased at appalling cost and yield- 
ing no profit. The attempts to disorganize the British force, to 
destroy its morale, to roll it back, cut off its communications, are 
all failures. The Englishmen and Scotchmen and Irishmen and Ca- 
nadians and Australians may be killed, but they will not run. The 
tenacity of the Anglo-Saxon is seen at its best in the heroic defense 
of the northern end of the western front. 

Whether the enemy will be held in check there, or whether he 
has massed such overwhelming numbers that he will overrun the 
British and reach Bethune or some other point from which to turn 
the British flank will be developed within a few days or possibly 
within a few hours. Every hour now is packed with a chapter of 
historic events, since the struggle has been brought down to a naked 
hand-to-hand contest between liberty and its enemy. The world for 
ages to come will look back upon today's hours and study them with 
minute care, for in them are hidden the seeds of the fate of man- 
kind. 

It is foolish to ignore or deny the consequences of a possible 
breakdown of the British defense as affecting the United States. This 
country is almost as deeply affected as Great Britain. A German 
victory great enough to disable the British army would change the 
entire aspect of the war and immediately bring the United States to 
the full realization that all its man power would be needed for at least 
five years in more terrible battles than those that have racked Europe. 

This possibility, if nothing else, should inspire the energy and 
determination of Americans to uphold the allies in their present stress. 
The situation is a direct appeal to the instinct of self-preservation. 
But its very danger also serves as a bugle call to all patriots and 
lovers of liberty. It is because the enemy is strong and determined 
to rule the world that civilization bares its arm and draws the blade 
of destiny. If the Germans were a feeble folk, mere strutting brag- 
garts as they were supposed to be by many persons before the war, 
there would be no appeal to the courage and tenacity of the civilized 

r 201 ] 



THE RUGGED ROAD 

races. Now that the magnitude of the danger is appreciated, it is 
with fierce joy that the sons of freedom strip for action. 

If there are quaking souls who fear that the possibility herein 
mentioned will become a fact, let them remember that a crisis even 
more acute than the present one was met by the allies in this war, 
and that it was the Germans who fell back. Another Marne awaits 
the Germans. They seem to be carrying all before them, as they did 
in 1914. But they will not defeat civilization. If the sorely pressed 
allies fall back it will be upon fresh reserves, held for the decisive 
stroke. Gen. Foch has already displayed one of the qualities of 
greatness in his ability to wait. He holds in leash an army which, 
properly used at the proper moment, will shatter forever the power of 
Germany. Perhaps he has been tempted to unleash the straining 
forces. But the hour has not yet arrived. The army, when it strikes, 
must strike once for all. It must wait until it can deliver a fatal 
stroke, fair and square through the heart. 

This is a time for girding up of spirits and quiet resolve. Come 
what may, each American should say in his heart that he will see 
the struggle through to a triumphant finish. The aid that goes for- 
ward should be doubled and quadrupled. The support of the flag 
should be made more complete by purging from the heart every selfish 
thought. The President should have absolute support, from the heart 
out. If mistakes are seen, the thing to do is to mend matters. If men 
in authority are telling lies to the people, the thing to do is to tear 
them from their places forthwith. President Wilson cannot deliver 
the full force of this nation if liars and defeatists and thieves are per- 
mitted to operate under the shadow of authority. As for spies and 
traitors, they deserve death, they must die if America is to win, and 
they will die on gallows or before the guns of American firing squads. 

Brace yourselves, Americans! Read your list of dead and quit 
the ways of peace. You must fight. Clean out the nests of serpents 
at home. See that your President has honest and brave men to 
help him. Strike down the weaklings and pacifists who are helping 
the enemy to kill your sons. Put Americans on guard, here in Wash- 
ington, to support the Americans at the front. 



| 202 



Sunday, April 14, 1918 

The Invincible Allies 

THE crisis through which the French and British armies are 
passing is the direct cause of a profound stirring of patriotism 
among the American people. The patriotism was there all the 
time, but it needed to be stirred. Germany's monstrous energy and 
savagery, striking squarely at the heart of the United States, first 
appalled and then set fire to the temper of Americans. The setbacks 
suffered by the allied armies have served as trumpet calls to the 
people of this country. 

It would be well for Germany if she could peer into the heart 
of America. "We have misjudged America from the first," said one 
of the most intelligent German papers. America misjudged Germany, 
also, but it recovered its sense of proportion and its accuracy of judg- 
ment. It now has Germany properly estimated, while Germany is 
utterly unaware of what is going on in the heart of America. 

The German idea is that if the British army can be beaten the 
British empire will be broken up and Germany will be master of the 
Old World. "Then we will not take any nonsense from the United 
States," was the kaiser's statement of Germany's position after it 
should have accomplished Britain's defeat. But Germany would not 
seek to continue the war. It would seek to make a bargain with the 
United States. "We are now masters of the Old World, and you 
are masters of the New," is Germany's line of reasoning. "Take what 
you want in the New World. Take Canada and all other British 
and French possessions. Assert your overlordship over Central and 
South America. We shall leave you alone, if you will leave us alone 
in Europe. We can trade across the Atlantic with great mutual 
benefit." 

Germany's masters actually believe that Americans could be 
bribed into making peace. The prospect of spoils, Germans believe, 
would prove too much for Uncle Sam's itching palm. This estimate 
of the American character is as far wrong as the former opinion that 
Germany was a nation jealous of its honor. 

Americans know that if such a stupendous catastrophe as the 
downfall of France and Great Britain should occur, the United States 
would reply to Germany, "We have just begun to fight!" 

Americans know that thereupon the spirit that made this nation 
free would transform the Union of these States. Instead of 1,000,000 

[203] 



THE INVINCIBLE ALLIES 

or 2,000,000 men ready to bear arms, 15,000,000 or 20,000,000 would 
demand the opportunity to kill Germans, and would not take No for 
an answer. Instead of imperceptible moves toward a hypothetical 
air fleet, America would commandeer the skies above Germany. 
Gigantic weapons, even now foreshadowed, would be forged by the 
Cyclops of American industry. By machinery of war faster and more 
destructive than anything ever before conceived, the American nation 
would destroy Germans, and if necessary Germany. One has but to 
glance back over the achievements of American genius to be assured 
that these statements are not boasts. The genius that produced the 
telegraph, telephone, airplane, submarine, tractor, machine gun and 
other agencies of warfare is capable of improving upon them and 
devising other weapons. 

It is literally true that America has not begun to fight. The 
hardships of the allies are serving to arouse America to its duty. 
Everything that has been done to date is but a hint of what is to 
be done. The Americans at the front are but the spatter of drops 
before the deluge. 

France will stand. A thousand years of struggle has tested her 
mettle and found her proof against destruction. The French nation 
is immortal. Great Britain will stand. The swarms of enemies that 
dash against the bulwarks of England are attacking that stronghold 
in vain. The French and British armies are the French and British 
nations in action. They may be bruised, but they cannot be killed. 
The foe attacking them bleeds, and before the war is ended he will 
seek to escape death. 

Behind these two glorious and invincible gladiators stands the 
majestic figure of the United States, whose power is the power of a 
planet and whose resources are the treasury of the New World. 

God lives, and therefore it is written in the book of the destiny 
of man that these three defenders of liberty and civilization shall 
strike down and destroy the German empire and its works. 



[204 



Tuesday, April 16, 1918 

A Time for Revolution 

CZERNIN is made the goat by the trembling and feeble Haps- 
burg who inherits the blood-stained throne. The city of Prague 
seethes with revolution and the people acclaim resolutions of 
independence. German and Austrian regiments and divisions are 
melting away in the implacable fires. The German people wait im- 
patiently for the victory that is to lift all their burdens and reward 
with rich plunder all their privations. France and England stand 
firm. America utilizes every hour by sending fresh troops to aid the 
allies. 

That is the situation for the moment. There is nothing in it 
to cause the heart of any free man to beat with apprehension. The 
signs of disaster, few as they may be, are in the enemy's camp. 

Every hour of deadlock on the western front is an hour gained 
for world liberty. It is an hour taken from German militarism and 
handed to civilization. It is a curtailment of the danger that threatens 
the world, and a hastening of the collapse of the German power. 

Lack of victory means defeat and collapse for Germany. The 
Germans cannot sacrifice every day a population the equivalent of 
a city the size of Indianapolis and hope to carry on indefinite as- 
saults. There is not enough flesh and blood in the German empire 
to glut the appetite of allied cannons. Let them come on; the more 
the better. The struggle is largely a contest between German flesh 
and allied guns. Hohenzollern will not spare German flesh, but 
will achieve his object if flesh and blood can achieve it. The allies, 
acting on sound strategy, are not sacrificing men unnecessarily, al- 
though they are holding certain positions at any cost. When a ma- 
chine gun can do the work of rifles, the allies use the machine. Their 
artillery work is wonderfully expert. The harvesters of death have 
worked havoc in the German ranks. 

There need be no fear that the enemy will disable either the 
British or the French army. These forces are working magnificently 
in harmony and in the best of spirits. The enemy will strike again 
and again, but there is no reason to apprehend that he will reach 
his goal. 

In the meantime, the disorders in Austria-Hungary afford a 
valuable hint to the United States and the other allies, if they would 

[205] 



A TIME FOR REVOLUTION 

but utilize it. Why arc the allies failing to stimulate revolution in 
Austria? Conditions are ripe for the overturning of the Hapsburg 
throne. In the very midst of the smoke and flame of the western 
battle, when Hohenzollern is fighting for his life, it would be quite 
possible to start fires in Austria which the enemy could not quench. 

Let the allies recognize the independence of Bohemia, Jugoslavia 
and other portions of Austria, and let them back up their recognition 
with financial and military support. Let them give tangible evidence 
to the Czecho-Slovaks, the Poles, the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, 
and also the submerged Roumanian and Italian elements in Austria, 
that if they will strike the blow for liberty the allies will sustain 
them. With the Austrian army held at the Italian front, and with 
the German army in the grip of the western allies, it would be pos- 
sible for determined revolutionists in Austria to upset the empire and 
put Hapsburg to flight. The coup could be accomplished in a day by 
concerted action. 

One united, timely, determined stroke at the Hapsburg empire 
would be sufficient. It is rotten to the core, blood-soaked with ancient 
slaughters, execrated by millions of men who have it in their power 
to tear it to pieces. It is peculiarly the duty of the United States to 
take the lead in encouraging revolt in Austria, for millions formerly 
oppressed by the Hapsburgs are now citizens of the United States, 
and this nation has frequently voiced its sympathy for the trodden- 
down races in Austria-Hungary. 

Italy, only recently an ally of Austria-Hungary, was strong 
enough to break away from the unholy alliance and strike for the 
freedom of her ancient territory. The other peoples are not strong 
enough to make war on their oppressors, but they can begin a revo- 
lution which, at the present juncture, would have every prospect of 
immediate success if supported by the United States and the great 
allies. 

If any timorous American has any squeamishness regarding the 
propriety of fomenting revolution in Austria, by propaganda, money, 
bullets and all other means, let him reflect upon the fact that the 
United States of America is the result of France's bold and unblush- 
ing complicity in the plans of that dangerous revolutionist, George 
Washington, and his fellow conspirators. 



206 



Wednesday, April 17, 1918 

The Last Foe of Liberty 

SOMEWHERE in France is a field, now unknown, which is des- 
i tined to be trumpeted by fame to remotest ages as the field of 
Armageddon, the field where mankind dealt the final blow that 
liberated it from oppression by autocrats claiming divine rights and 
supported by millions of fanatical worshipers. The warfare now in 
progress leaves nothing to the imagination, so far as the forecast of 
events is concerned. With the punctuality of fate itself, German 
militarism marches to its annihilation. The unseen hand of God 
is driving the enemy forward to destruction. The German emperor 
and his satellites and slayers so literally follow the program of fate 
that they fulfill every detail, down to the manifestation of the pride 
that goeth before a fall. In their blindness they now think they are 
reaching the peak of victory, from which they expect to see broad 
pastures of fat plunder and illimitable indemnities. 

Many a battle has been fought on the soil of France, some of 
them turning points of the world's history. At Tours the hordes of 
Islam were stopped, and the cry of defeat echoed in Cordoba and 
Damascus. The Moslem armies were magnificently brave, more 
intelligent than the Germans, chivalrous and honorable, but the na- 
tives of France would not have them as masters. 

At Lepanto the Turks gathered an armada of unprecedented 
size, and prepared to swoop down upon and ravage civilization. John 
of Austria, supported by a fleet of allies and by such hearts of oak 
as that which throbbed in the breast of Miguel de Cervantes, dealt a 
killing blow to the infidel. The Germans of today are not better 
armed or more numerously supported than the Turks of Lepanto, in 
proportion to the strength of the respective intended victims. 

The task of conquering the civilized world is too complicated 
and too difficult for any ruler to accomplish, no matter how bloody 
his mind, how wolfish his lust for spoils, or how numerous his armies. 
When men fight for their altars and their fires, for their wives and 
babies, they fight like angels and devils combined. France, being 
free and determined to remain free, is immortal. Free nations will 
not harm her, and they will see that other nations do not slay her. 
England is a land of men who made themselves free a thousand years 
ago, and they have spread freedom over the earth. England, like 

[207] 



THE LAST FOE OF LIBERTY 

Prometheus, is undaunted and unconquerable, because she knows she 
cannot die. 

The German hordes batter against British and French breasts 
and allied guns. The barbarians make some headway — another step 
toward their own destruction. But their progress deceives them and 
lures them on, just as it deceives faint hearts in allied nations and 
whispers defeat in timorous ears. If the rulers of Germany were in 
their senses, instead of being committed to destruction, they would 
regard their progress in the enemy country in its true light as a step 
toward the annihilation of the German empire. But they plunge for- 
ward to their doom, according to the decree of fate. 

The allied nations gather fresh strength with every disappoint- 
ment. They were never as strong as they are at this moment, and 
never as harmonious in council. The magnitude of their dangers 
arouses the spirit that is required to marshal their forces and make 
them stone walls. Every hour increases the assistance which the 
United States is sending from its inexhaustible resources of men and 
material. The Germans have provinces to draw upon; the allies have 
a world. From America the allies are beginning to hear the unmis- 
takable note of war — not an academic set of phrases, but the shrill 
scream of the eagle robbed of her young. 

During this week in April, in 1775, the colonists of America 
gathered with 12 field pieces and 17,000 pounds of salt fish and re- 
solved to fight for liberty. On the 19th of the month the embattled 
farmers "fired the shot heard round the world." The reverberations 
of that shot are still echoing in the robber castles of autocrats. Ber- 
lin hears it. America, blessed by the divine favor as the home and 
guardian of liberty, has reopened the battle of Lexington in order to 
defeat the last challenger and assailant of freedom. 

When this battle is ended there will be no further attempts in 
this world to prevent men from governing themselves. 



[208] 



Saturday, April 20, 1918 

The Day of Reckoning 

TWICE within the month ending today the power that assails 
mankind has struck with all the might of its collected, refreshed 
and replenished armies. It struck first against France and 
failed. Then it struck against Great Britain, and again it has failed. 
The German armies on the western front, reinforced by German 
armies from the Russian front and by many German and Austrian 
divisions from the Italian front, were gathered into one compact 
mass, drilled for many weeks for the special work before them, thor- 
oughly supplied with all imaginable equipment and artillery, and 
then hurled with maniacal fury against the armies of France and 
England. And Thor's hammer broke against the anvil of freedom. 

The Germans will continue the assault — they cannot and dare 
not quit. But their hammer strokes hereafter must be comparatively 
feeble. If it had been ordained that freedom in this world was to be 
overthrown, the date of its downfall would have been between March 
20 and April 20, 1918. It was then that the mightiest military force 
ever massed in the history of the world was concentrated and used 
against the defenders of liberty. Nothing that absolutism could 
dictate or science supply was wanting in the assaulting forces. They 
represented the maximum driving and hammering power of the chief 
military nation on earth. The allied armies, having withstood and 
repulsed these attacks, have proved themselves indestructible. Free- 
dom is unconquerable. 

The battle has now reached the stage where the enemy is checked, 
looking about for chances to break through, and hurrying up fresh 
reserves. The allies, having stopped the onrush, are strengthening 
their lines as they stand, or shifting here and there preparatory to 
meeting another attack. They are also bringing up reserves, includ- 
ing a large Italian force. But the reserve army of the allies is not yet 
employed. It is kept in the background by Gen. Foch, waiting for 
the opportune moment when it can strike a mortal blow. 

Germany, it is said, is bringing reserves from the Russian front. 
Very well! The allies are getting reserves from America. Now that 
the contest has come down to the point where the antagonists must 
bring up new forces, the allies can afford to be well pleased. They 
have a bigger reservoir of better men than Germany can command. 

[209] 



THE DAY OF RECKONING 

If Germany brings in 500,000 or 1,000,000 men, America will offset 
them with 1,000,000 or 2,000,000. The longer Germany protracts the 
endeavor to outnumber the allies, the greater she will be outnumbered 
from now on. If she could not beat the allies with her western and 
Russian armies, while the American force was "contemptible," what 
can she do when the American army has reached the size of other 
armies in Europe? As for munitions of all kinds, the allies are better 
supplied than their adversary, and the domain of the air is under the 
mastery of the allies. 

Germany must fight on. Despite his knowledge that his armies 
have already done their best and failed, and that further assaults 
mean the useless slaughter of his people, Hohenzollern will continue 
the battle. He has no other choice. His war against the world was 
begun in falsehood, on a false assumption, and it has been maintained 
by falsehood and false gains blazoned before the Germans to conceal 
real losses. From start to finish, Hohenzollern's war has been a lie. 
The German people have been incurably greedy of falsehoods, and 
their lying master has rilled them full. Now he does not dare to let 
them know the truth. He does not dare to tell them that Germany's 
antagonists are stronger than ever, and are forced by Hohenzollern's 
atrocious policy to decree that the war shall not cease until the Ger- 
man empire is on its knees. Hohenzollern is afraid to tell the Ger- 
mans what he has done to 5,000,000 of their sons, whom he has 
butchered, blinded, maimed and sent to captivity. He has nothing 
to show for these slaughters except some territory which he holds 
temporarily, and which he must deliver up when he hands over his 
sword to his conquerors. Not a foot of Russia or Serbia or Roumania 
or Belgium is German or will remain German. It goes back to the 
owners, along with other stolen goods which civilization will recover 
from the spoiler on the day of reckoning. 

It is against this approaching day of reckoning that the im- 
perial manslayer Hohenzollern storms and struggles. He cannot 
delay it for an hour, nor can he flee from it. 



[210] 



Sunday, April 21, 1918 

No End Except Victory 

THERE is a lull on the immense battle front while the enemy 
gathers strength for another attack. He has definitely failed 
in the first two. His gains are a few miles of wasted territory 
that increase the length of his communications and the difficulty of 
his transports; his losses are at least 500,000 men in killed and 
wounded. This showing is sufficient to convince even Hohenzollern 
that his fight is a losing one. But he has passed the point where he 
can fight or not, as he pleases. Inexorable fate has him in its coils. 
He cannot avoid what is in store for him. Failure to attempt to go 
forward means immediate danger of uprisings, hunger strikes and 
revolution in Germany and Austria. The issue for Hohenzollern is 
victory or death. 

Hohenzollern knows his people. He chooses the lesser of two 
evils. He would rather pour out the lives of his faithful dupes, in the 
faint hope of winning a military triumph, than face the German 
nation with nothing but defeat in his hands and with an allied army 
at his heels. So long as he has human material capable of making 
battle and willing to die, he will sacrifice it for the sake of saving 
himself and his crown. 

The probability is that Hohenzollern will strike next between 
the extremes of the two recent drives. His forces occupy two sharp 
salients, exposed to attack on their flanks. If they cannot straighten 
their front they may be compelled to retreat suddenly or surrender. 
Gen. Foch has the allied armies well disposed for administering a 
fatal blow to one of the German armies. The daily shifting of local 
forces has not injured the allied general position. It has actually 
increased the danger lurking behind the Germans. The enemy's ad- 
vance is into territory that favors allied rather than German opera- 
tions. The allies have shorter communications, better rear ground 
for rail and motor transport, superior intelligence installations and 
more abundant supplies. The Germans have more men, but these 
men must now march over broken ground to get into battle, and all 
their food and ammunition supplies are subject to delay on account 
of the absence of roads. Probably one of the busiest scenes on the 
earth at this moment is the territory behind the German front, where 
armies of diggers and builders must serve armies of fighters. 

[211] 



NO END EXCEPT VICTORY 

The allied nations are rapidly increasing their battle strength. 
The temporary suspension of heavy hostilities enables them to rush 
fresh forces forward and equip them with everything needful. At the 
depots farther back, the men and munitions from America and Eng- 
land are accumulating. Trains from Italy are conveying 500,000 
men to the French and Flanders fronts. 

Having withstood the full force of the two strongest blows that 
the German military power could deliver, the allied armies are su- 
premely confident. They know they can ward off the third and last 
great attack. They are eager for the clash, well knowing that when 
it is ended the enemy will have opened the way for the counter offen- 
sive that will drive him out of France and Belgium. Once on the 
retreat, there will be no recovery for the German forces, as they will 
find the enemy ever increasing in numbers and efficiency. 

Germany will offer to make peace when the German military 
power is clearly overmatched. The allies will not be so foolish as 
to listen to peace proposals before victory is achieved. Once for all 
time, free men must keep at war until there is no enemy before them 
capable of stabbing liberty to death. Now that the sword of liberty 
has been drawn, it must never be returned to the scabbard until it 
has done its work. The goal of liberty's sword is the heart of au- 
tocracy. The world is not yet safe, and will not be safe while the 
German system survives. Death to it is the only guarantee of liberty's 
life. The United States did not challenge Germany's right to or- 
ganize a tremendous military machine, but when that machine was 
directed at the United States, for the purpose of destroying this na- 
tion unless it would take orders from Hohenzollern, it became neces- 
sary for the United States to put on such arms as would destroy the 
German arms. 

Whatever the results of the battle now raging, the United States 
will carry on the war to a successful termination. With its allies, it 
will assemble and exercise the force necessary to destroy German mil- 
itarism. There is no half-way station for peace, no room for com- 
promise on the question, "Shall the United States be free or a Ger- 
man colony?" 



212 



Thursday, April 25, 1918 
The Fresh Onslaught 

THERE is reason to believe that the Germans have brought up 
their guns and will soon begin, if they have not already begun, 
another assault in great force for the purpose of taking Amiens. 
While the enemy halted for a time after his failure to break the con- 
nection between the British and French armies, and later transferred 
his attention to the northern part of the line, it is well to bear in 
mind the German tendency to pursue with great tenacity a plan once 
begun, even if occasionally diverted elsewhere by the nature of the 
fighting. The war has shown over and over again that a point once 
attacked is subject to subsequent attacks, apparently without rhyme 
or reason so far as hope of success goes, but merely in pursuance of 
orders from "higher up" which leave no discretion to generals on the 
ground. 

The enemy war council decided on March 20 that it would strike 
at Amiens. The order to attack went out that night. From that 
moment to this it has been made plain that the Germans will persist 
indefinitely in the attempt to take Amiens. No one sees this more 
clearly than Gen. Foch, who is an expert analyst of enemy character 
and psychology as well as strategy. 

Some reports say that the enemy outnumbers and outguns the 
allies. That may be true, since sufficient time has elapsed to enable 
Ludendorff to transfer additional divisions from the Russian front. 
The weather has somewhat favored the Germans in bringing up their 
guns. No doubt Amiens will be under bombardment, along with 
Arras. But there is not the slightest reason for apprehending such 
weakness or such a breakdown of allied strategy as to result in the 
loss of vital territory. If Amiens should be taken, we may be sure 
that it will be taken with Gen. Foch's consent and not without his 
consent. He may have made such dispositions as to render Amiens 
no longer a vital point, or he may have laid down a plan which will 
sacrifice Amiens for the sake of winning a decisive victory elsewhere. 
He cannot take any one into his confidence. He must rely upon the 
unfailing support of all the allied governments and peoples. Thus, 
while the crisis is on it behooves every individual in allied countries 
to put his trust in Foch and the other commanders and their gallant 
armies, even at moments when the fortunes of war seem to be ad- 
verse. The fall of Amiens might occur, and in the absence of knowl- 

[213] 



THE FRESH ONSLAUGHT 

edge concerning allied plans it might be regarded by individuals as 
a terrible disaster; and yet in fact it might be the precursor of a 
brilliant campaign resulting in the smashing of the German armies. 

In good report and bad, in prosperity and adversity, it is the 
duty of the public to give its whole-hearted sympathy, confidence 
and support to the constituted authorities. The civil war taught 
Americans of hasty temper that they had grossly misjudged Abraham 
Lincoln and greatly increased his burdens. The history of the present 
war gives no warrant for fearing that the allied armies will be beaten 
by the Germans, no matter how great the disparity in numbers. The 
Marne, Verdun, the Somme, Ypres, Messines Ridge, Montdidier, 
Lassigny, Hangard-en-Santerre, Givenchy, and a score of other 
struggles show that the massed armed force of the German empire 
cannot overpower France and Great Britain. 

Now the United States is giving respectable support to the two 
invincible defenders of civilization. American troops, admitted by 
the Germans to number over 250,000, are in position to assist the 
allies. Some of these troops are on the Somme, where they are apt 
to be engaged soon. They are eager for the fray. Every man can 
be depended upon to fight to the last cartridge. The Americans, 
Britons and Frenchmen are all under the command of a master strat- 
egist, whose skill in handling large forces and taking advantage of 
the turns of battle is not equaled by any German commander. 

With intrepid hearts, plenty of arms and ammunition, and 
capably led, the allied armies await the onslaught. They may be 
depended upon to deal staggering blows at the enemy and cause him 
to bleed heavily. The German empire's fate depends upon victory; 
therefore the attack will be ferocious. But the allies have put 500,000 
Germans out of commission in the last month, and they know the 
German empire is fighting its last fight. They will give it the death- 
blow if opportunity offers. 



[214 



Friday, April 26, 1918 
The Victory-Makers 

THE enemy has resumed the offensive on a scale that gives every 
evidence of a determination on his part to break through to 
Amiens and separate the British and French armies if German 
arms can accomplish the feat. The slaughter of Germans has recom- 
menced, but despite this carnage they are driven forward by the 
merciless power that seems to make no distinction between friend and 
enemy slain. Hammering at both the British and French forces, the 
Germans have wrested two villages from them after the most des- 
perate kind of fighting. Perceptible advance toward Amiens must 
be acknowledged. 

Since the allies have had full notice of this attack, and have had 
sufficient time to accumulate defending forces between the firing line 
and Amiens, it must be presumed, if the Germans make such progress 
as to place the town at their mercy, that Gen. Foch has plans for 
operations elsewhere, even more important and more extensive than 
the terrible struggles before Amiens. 

The activity of enemy and allied forces at other points along the 
western front may be the forerunner of a great counter offensive. 
Both sides are feeling out the lines, in reconnoissances which in former 
days would have been dignified as battles. In these minor operations 
the Americans have been baptized with fire and have come through 
the ordeal with admirable vigor and courage. In one fight the United 
States marines were seriously engaged, the casualty list showing that 
the battle was extremely hot. The country would like to know the 
details of this fight. There is reason to believe that a glorious page 
has been added to the martial history of the United States. This 
news should be spread before all the people, with the name of every 
officer and private who participated. Honors should be bestowed 
immediately upon those who distinguished themselves. Let the 
republic be grateful and generous to its defenders. 

It is now probable that the American forces will soon be engaged 
on a large scale; that the Americans will be in the thick of the fight. 
Standing between the German and his intended victim are the stal- 
wart American lads who but a few months ago were here at home. 
The gas shells, the shrapnel and the steel hail of the German murder 
machinery are now striking at them, and therefore at the heart of the 
United States. It is not a proxy war now, no sentimental assistance 

[215] 



THE VICTORY-MAKERS 

to imperiled neighbors; it is a finish fight between Germany and 
America. 

The great allies stand undaunted. Their courage was never so 
superbly confident. Their determination to win is coequal to their 
determination to live. They are free, and therefore they have the 
spirit of victory over any foe of freedom; they are strong, and there- 
fore it is a deadly thing to attack them. Free, strong and united, 
they have already taken Germany's measure, defied her to do her 
worst, and halted her most desperate onslaught. Now they count 
the struggle as determined in their favor. The present attack is 
already an allied victory, when the whole scope of the war is con- 
sidered. 

It is not because of apprehension for the allies that the United 
States will now develop fighting qualities that will astonish the 
world. It is because the liberty, the independence, the existence of 
the United States itself are challenged and attacked. It is because 
American boys, defending the Stars and Stripes, have been stricken 
down by the bloody hand that is trying to tear that flag from the 
sky. It is because Germany demands the death or submission of 
America that America will now destroy the power that attacks the 
world. 

All honor to the gallant nations that carry on the fight while 
America prepares! The time is tedious and blunders are all too 
numerous. But no earthly power can now prevent the United States 
from becoming deadly in efficiency. Pacifism, incompetence, negli- 
gence and mistaken hopes of peace by negotiation or diplomatic jug- 
glery must all go into the scrapheap. Necessity calls for victors, and 
they will come forth. Some of them are already making victory. 

The President of the United States will not lack for good counsel, 
ample support and strong hands to help him win this war. Whenever 
he thrusts aside a weakling and commandeers a victory-maker the 
enemy is brought nearer to the dust. 



[216] 



Saturday, April 27, 1918 

Germany's Last Struggle 

HOHENZOLLERN is burning up the man power of his empire 
at a fearful rate. For the sake of capturing Villers-Bretonneux 
he carpets the district with his dead, and then he loses the 
place. Bent upon taking Kemmel Hill at any cost, he sends regiment 
after regiment against allied guns. The allies' cannon feed fat on human 
fodder, which is fed to them so plentifully that the piles of dead 
reach up to the very muzzles of the guns. In the offensive since March 
21 there have been 160 German divisions employed. Many of them 
have been blasted and amputated; others have been annihilated; 
others are patched up and thrown again into the furnace, and still 
others have been withdrawn for reorganization. About 70 divisions 
remain which have not been used, but many of these are unfit for 
anything but holding quiet sectors. Evidently British official com- 
ment is correct when it says, "Germany must win very quickly" if it 
is to escape still greater punishment, to be followed by defeat and 
retreat. 

But Germany cannot "win very quickly." That is precisely what 
has been proved to be impossible so long as the allied armies exist. 
There is no junction point where the French join the British line, as 
the Germans seem to think. The two armies are indissolubly welded 
together. They are as mobile and as homogeneous as the enemy 
forces. 

By sacrificing more men than the gains are worth, the German 
commanders work forward a little. They could not do so if the allied 
commanders were willing to sacrifice men to hold the ground. But 
since the ground in no case has veen vitally important, it has been 
yielded after the allied guns and machine guns and rifles have glutted 
themselves on the enemy. 

Doubtless the taking of Kemmel Hill will be exploited in Ger- 
many as a decisive victory. It is nothing of the kind, although, of 
course, no one on the allied side is glad that it was taken. It is a 
local gain, costing the enemy more than it is worth, and not promising 
him any further advance toward his real objective. The victory the 
Germans seek is further away than ever. It seemed within his grasp 
on March 21. Now, after two bursts of effort at the utmost limit of 
his strength, the enemy finds himself near the end of his reserves 
in a third effort which the allies are holding in check. 

[217] 



GERMANY'S LAST STRUGGLE 

At the rate of progress and the rate of consumption of his man 
power, Hohenzollern would find himself without an army and still 
many miles from his goal if the battle should be prolonged without a 
decision. But the allies will not even permit Hohenzollern to slaughter 
his entire army in his insane attempt to beat down the armies of 
France and Britain. At an opportune time, when the German army is 
properly bled and exhausted, a counter stroke will end the tragedy once 
for all. The German armies are melting down to the size of the oppos- 
ing forces, or to a point where the allies can take the offensive with 
absolute certainty of victory. The hour may not come for several weeks 
or months, but it will surely come this year if the Germans persist 
in exchanging human life for inches of ground. 

There need be no fear that a coup on the part of the Germans will 
break a path for them to Paris or the Channel. The danger of that 
has passed. They could not accomplish that feat in 1914, when the 
allies were feeble. They could not accomplish it in March, 1918, when 
the combined armies of the German empire were concentrated upon a 
single assault. Those armies are smaller now, by at least 600,000 men, 
while the allied armies have been increased from Italy and the United 
States. 

The swaying of the huge armies back and forth into a village and 
out of it, or up a hill and down again, is of little significance now. 
The fact that outweighs all others is that the allied armies have felt 
the weight of all the force that the German emperor and his generals 
could concentrate upon them and have stood firm. That fact means 
that Germanj'-'s attempt to break out of the trap is a failure. It 
means that the great allies are gradually and surely reaching the 
point where they will be able to choose their own time and place for 
giving Germany the knockout blow. It means not merely that Paris 
and the Channel will not be taken, but that Germany has passed the 
peak of power and will never again menace the world. The German 
imperial power is making its last struggle. 



[218 



A . 

NO ONE .. nprehensively from day to 

; into believing *.he present battle or series of 

\-jai these battles are 

press' ..an emperor and his advisers 

v .hat unless t the tipper hand over the allies 

. 1 be made certain by the increased 

- risking all, in 

very jaws of disaster and ruin. 

Bid :' modern armies and the vast industrial 

in these armies have proved that no single battle, 
however prodigies an terminate the d c 

nations like I : Britain. Italy and the United 

:ake one air a a series of 

- i iccess in 

ould be taken to mean that 

inued effort, could compel France and Britain to 

vided the Unite; SM did not appear in trengj 

irb the equation. Germany's fail- reak through will 

meat I allies & i.n armies 

and e jntinuec :rive them out of France and Belgium 

ir.'i '.-'-:! O-.-.-rr. '■:.;.- * - .-.- :''.: :.-':i'-'- 

In either c ..tinued effort will be required to clinch the 

jugh the world may see from 
the result of the battle how the war may terminate, the war must go 
on until it ha- -minated by actual application of overwhelming 

Hope will inspire the loser of the preset- in the face of 

appointment and terrible lost inner will not be 

able to collect the full adv&. _• without further 

expenditure of fori 

iid ground for the belief that the allies will stop the 

ana and thereby win the pre- - Sod grant it! But in 

that case the all: t strength to follow up their 

overwhelming, final victory of the 
war. They cannot afford to base their hopes upon German revolution 
or a breakdown of the German military machine. Their plans must 
sed upon superior war power. 

[219 I 



AMERICA'S SHARE 

At that point the United States can and should turn the scale. 
Notwithstanding Germany's advances here and there by the use of 
massed flesh, this is a machinery war, as is proved by the appalling 
harvests of flesh garnered by tanks and machine guns. The United 
States is still a stripling in war, a mere childish player at killing. Its 
enemy's territory is a roaring furnace of production, and every thought 
in every German brain is aimed at the utilization of means that will 
destroy the allies and the United States. In this country a thousand 
factors are permitted to interfere with war production, week after 
week and month after month. Pacifists are allowed to hold important 
places, and men tainted with pro-Germanism are actually in public 
office. The nation is not on fire for war. The people are not inflamed 
with that passion which sweeps all else aside and makes a straight 
path from the nation's heart to the hearts of the boys at the front. 

The United States must be greater and more efficient in war 
than it now plans to be. Plans must be amplified. The nation is not 
measuring up to its easy possibilities. A continent that produces half 
of the coal and half of the steel of the entire world, which prides itself 
upon the magnitude of its industry and the scope of its production, 
which is famous for its artificers and inventors, which is the birthplace 
of most of the mighty engines of war, should be ashamed of the record 
it has made thus far in pretending to match its resources and its wits 
against the Germans. 

Wake up, Americans ! You must win this war. You can annihi- 
late every gun that is aimed at an American heart. You can bring 
down to dust and death the imperial slayer and his hordes. But you 
cannot do it by bragging or by sloth or by depending upon France and 
England to win the war for you. You are unorganized for war, 
Americans, and your resources and money and skill will not be effec- 
tive until you get down to business. The United States of America, 
aroused and armed for battle, is one thing; the United States, indif- 
ferent, fat and unorganized, is another. 

Stand by your President. Strike down pacifists and traitors. 
Support every move of your government. Watch all your public 
officials. Keep them on their mettle. Save your criticism for wrong- 
doers. Speak out against wrong. Put your money in liberty bonds, 
which are dollars drawing interest. Study the enemy and his works. 
Don't try to profiteer from the government. Quietly watch all aliens. 
Cut out luxuries. Expand your views. Think in continents. Don't 
underestimate the enemy. Remember that the United States will 
never see a greater danger. 

[220] 



Friday, May 3, 1918 

Germany's Failing Powers 

HAVING exhausted himself in a struggle against the line that 
binds him in on the north, the enemy is now gathering strength 
for another lunge, while his raiding parties are testing out the 
line here and there. In a scrimmage with Americans near Grivesnes 
the enemy found the line not only intact, but bristling with death. 
In the Noyon region he ventured to feel of the French force, and his 
foreline was cremated. As for the Ypres front, the spent forces of 
Gen. von Arnim have no desire to taste British steel again. 

Yet the Germans must go forward and die. The fate of the 
Hohenzollerns is involved. The god worshiped by the Germans is in 
danger, hence the Germans must either give up their lives or their 
god. Thus far they have clung to their idol and squandered their 
lives, and probably they will continue to do so until the crash comes. 
Hohenzollern is still able to throw German men by uncounted thou- 
sands into the crematory of defeat. The day has gone by when it 
was his policy to conserve the German population. His only hope of 
success is to rebuild the foundations of his throne upon a mixture of 
German blood and bones, leaving to his successors the task of repeo- 
pling the empire. His reasoning is the perfection of simplicity. 
"Either I or the people must die," says Hohenzollern. "Let it be the 
people." 

It was about a week after the beginning of the tremendous drive 
on March 21, 1918, that the inferiority of German arms compared 
with the allied forces was conclusively established in the test of 
battle. The climax of the war power of the German empire was 
reached during that week. The German western army was fresh after 
months of recuperation; it was fully provisioned and equipped; it 
was reinforced by the enormously strong army from the Russian 
front; it was trained for many weeks in the details of an attack that 
was to be pressed with maniac frenzy, at all costs, at a point unknown 
to the allies, and the emperor was in personal command, attended by 
his chief advisors. The stroke was made. It caught the allies partly 
by surprise, before they had unified the supreme command. The 
attack was pressed with a ferocity that was never surpassed by 
savages or beasts in the desperation of their death throes. And it 
failed. It failed, and with it the German empire began its decline. 
From the hour that this assault broke itself upon the undaunted 

[221] 



GERMANY'S FAILING POWERS 

hearts of France and England, the defeat of Hohenzollcrn and the 
downfall of his dynasty was entered upon the book of fate. 

Premier Clemenceau is the best informed man in the world con- 
cerning the allies and the task before them. He disposed of all his 
reserved doubts one week after Hohenzollern's supreme effort. That 
effort having failed, M. Clemenceau knew that Germany would never 
again have the strength to draw together the elements of an attack of 
equal power. The factors of the situation now favor the allies in 
their defense. They may not yet be able to begin an offensive and win 
— that is something which was too much for the Germans — but they 
have proved that they can stand on the defensive and kill off Germans 
at a rate that means the extinction of Germany if it is kept up. The 
confidence of M. Clemenceau, therefore, is knowledge. 

Let the barbarian rage. The more he strikes at the allies the 
better for the world, for he will be exhausted and demoralized that 
much sooner. But the allies must narrowly watch this frantic foe 
while they are closing in upon him. He will not stop at anything. 
He will drag in Holland, Spain, Scandinavia; he will smash at Italy: 
he will redouble his air raids; he will run amuck with submarines. 
Seeing defeat and death before him Hohenzollern will go down in 
blood and fire, dragging down everything within reach. It is thus 
that the imperial wretch will try to justify himself w r ith the boast 
that he fought to the last. 

To the honor of the United States, humanity to the end of time 
will celebrate the fact that the world's liberation was accomplished 
largely through American effort. History can never overlook the 
glorious hour when the Stars and Stripes appeared in battle in France. 
The Americans of this day are fortunate in their generation to be 
sharers in the greatest achievement of mankind, the universal estab- 
lishment of self-government. 



[222 



Sunday, May 5, 1918 
"Consider the End" 

EVIDENTLY this beautiful month of spring is to be filled with 
the records of human butchery, as March and April were. The 
enemy has begun another attack, having rested his divisions 
and brought up fresh reserves to resume the effort to break the British 
army. The wastes that once were Ypres are to be harrowed with 
shells. The dead of old battles are to be blown out of their graves, 
merged with newly dead battalions, and reburied by fresh explosions. 
The German emperor of the dead is increasing his army of corpses 
with feverish haste. He will not be satisfied, it appears, until he has 
the greater portion of the German armies safely under the sod. 

The allies will do all they can to help him, now that he insists 
upon decimating Germany. They have not lost a moment during 
the recent breathing spell. They have brought up reserves and sup-- 
plies, strengthened rear defenses, increased their airplane forces, amal- 
gamated fresh regiments of Americans and Italians with the veteran 
French and British brigades, and redoubled the bonds which unite 
the British and French armies. All this is directly in aid of the 
German emperor's campaign for the killing of Germans. 

It is the enemy's hope to reach the Channel ports and to defeat 
the British army. That hope, ardently pursued, will prove the undo- 
ing of the German empire. There is no such thing as defeat of the 
British army, for the reason that it is backed by indestructible and 
irresistible power furnished by the nations of civilization. All this 
power is not on the ground, but it is realizable and in process of appli- 
cation. It is growing rapidly, not as rapidly as the hour's needs, but 
rapidly enough to turn the enemy's hope to despair. 

At the moment when Germany renews its desperate assault, the 
parliament of Austria-Hungary is dissolved because of a crisis in 
the internal situation. The chief ally of Germany is on the verge of 
collapse by reason of hunger and revolution. The country is stripped 
of food. The imperial food dictator, Gen. Hoeffer, declared last De- 
cember that the empire would have to get 600,000,000 pounds of 
foodstuff somewhere if it was to hold out until the next harvest. This 
supply has not been forthcoming. Ukrainia was a Mother Hubbard's 
cupboard when the Huns reached it. In Bohemia and throughout the 
southern Slav regions of Austria the peasants refused to raise crops, 
and the shortage thus created is now acute and deadly. 

[223] 



"CONSIDER THE END" 

In the midst of this universal hunger the subject races of Austria 
are straining at the leash. If the great allies would exert themselves 
in a practical manner they could precipitate at least three violent 
revolutions in Austria-Hungary, and thus hasten the dissolution of 
the Hapsburg empire. Arms and ammunition should be smuggled 
in to the subjects of Austria-Hungary. The coast of Dalmatia should 
be swarming at this moment with allied blockade runners carrying 
fuel for the revolution in Austria. No more telling blow could be 
delivered at the German power than the disablement of Austria, and 
nothing is more feasible as a military proposition. 

The Austrian navy is almost as ineffective as the bolshevik navy 
of Russia. Ninety per cent of the crews of the Austrian navy are 
Slavs who are waiting for an opportunity to mutiny. All the mari- 
time population of Austria is composed of Slavs and Italians. So 
honeycombed with revolution is the Austrian navy that Emperor Karl 
recently was compelled to take over personal command of the fleet. 
He does not dare to trust his own officers. A bold stroke by the allied 
fleets ought to result in the transfer en masse of the Austrian ships 
to the allied side, and the speedy occupation of all Austrian ports by 
the allies. Then the Austrian offensive against Italy could be turned 
into an enemy disaster of first magnitude. 

Let the German hordes come on and die as they come. It is well. 
The allies are winning this war. In spite of failure to seize upon many 
obvious opportunities to deal a wicked thrust, the allies are marching 
to the goal. 

The United States army is to be enlarged forthwith to a size suffi- 
cient to make the defeat of Germany sure. This concentration of 
the republic's strength is coming at the hour when Germany passes 
the peak of her military strength and when Austria-Hungary suspends 
parliamentary government to struggle with hunger and revolution. 

Those who shudder at the German assaults should remember that 
the birth pangs of liberty are violent and that evil dies hard. Let 
them bear in mind the saying of the wise man of Greece, "Consider 
the end," and bravely bear the burdens of today. 



[224] 



Tuesday, May 7, 1918 

Liberty's Deadly Blows 

ALLIED artillery has performed wonderful work recently in 
jTj^ breaking up enemy formations far behind the lines. The Ger- 
mans massing for attack have been blown to atoms, their food 
and munitions trains demolished, their ammunition dumps fired, and 
their railroads wrecked. In addition to this artillery execution, the 
allied airmen have gone farther behind the enemy's lines and deranged 
his communications by dropping bombs upon railroad trains and 
stations, airdromes and ammunition dumps. Consequently the Ger- 
mans have been unable to organize the offensive which they planned 
to begin several days ago. The abortive attempt which was begun in 
spite of allied ravages soon ended in heavy losses. Not all the kaiser's 
ravings nor savage punishment by Hun generals could drive the Ger- 
mans into line for an effective assault. 

It is fast becoming evident that the Germans have struck their 
heaviest blow. They will resume the attack without doubt, because 
their numbers are still large and their object unattained. But the 
German empire will never again have at its command the magnificent 
equipment which was concentrated against the allies in March. The 
German army is not the army it was in March, when it was fresh, 
trained to the minute, armed to the teeth, and attacking with all the 
advantage of taking the opposing forces by surprise. The Germans 
also were inspired by expectation of overwhelming victory, and so 
immense were their numbers that their expectations seemed to be 
conservative. 

Since that time 600,000 Germans have been put out of action, 
of whom at least 350,000 will never crave bread again. The allied 
artillery has wrought dreadful havoc with Germany's manhood. If 
the angel of death had employed an army of sable reapers they could 
not have harvested a heavier crop. It is a machinery war. More 
and more does it appear probable that flesh and blood must clothe 
itself in steel if it is to carry on war. The German waves of flesh 
dash forward, but they do so on ever-rising floods of blood. The 
acquisition of France and Flanders cannot be pursued by Germany 
at such ruinous cost. Either the method of assault must change or the 
German armies will be consumed. 

So long as the Germans care to pursue their present course the 
allies are satisfied. Gen. Foch is not foolish enough to follow the 

[225] 



LIBERTY'S DEADLY BLOWS 

enemy's plan. He will not make counter offensives of flesh against 
death machinery to gain inches or rods of mined ground. The pro- 
portion of losses favors the allies. That is satisfactory. Time thus 
works to the undoing of the enemy, by increasing the disparity be- 
tween the forces. When the hour arrives and the certainty of victory 
appears, there need be no fear that Gen. Foch will hesitate to drive 
home to the hilt the terrible blade that civilization has placed in his 
hands. 

With solemn pride and steadily increasing confidence the Amer- 
ican people watch the growth of their army in France, the elimina- 
tion of the unfit in Washington, the improvement in shipbuilding, 
the efficient delivery of troops and supplies under convoy, the liberal 
financial support of the government, the betterment of industrial 
conditions, and the keener fighting edge of the young men. There 
is much to be done in making the United States the fighting nation 
that it can and will be, but already it is apparent that the second 
year of war will be radically different from the first in sweep and 
effectiveness. 

There are unfit men in high office. This is one of the heaviest 
of handicaps. But they cannot remain. The President's action in 
directing an investigation of the aircraft situation by the Depart- 
ment of Justice is a far-reaching order. It serves warning upon the 
unfit and the corrupt, wherever they may be, that their acts will be 
subjected to the fierce light which destroys both incompetence and 
corruption in the public service. The purging process seems slow, but 
it is sure. It will be swifter when the bitter truth is driven home 
that unfitness in Washington means murder of American boys in 
France. Unfitness is the accomplice of treason, more destructive than 
enemy plotting, more demoralizing than an aerial bombardment of 
Washington. It slows down production, cripples ships, turns out 
worthless ammunition, and unhinges every gateway to victory. Ger- 
many rejoices whenever a pacifist or an incompetent gets into office 
here. 

But with all the drawbacks, the United States is sweeping for- 
ward toward marvelous achievements and glorious victory. Liberty 
is on the march. Humanity, stirred to the depths, will never return 
to the conditions of 1914, when a coterie of murderers in control of 
the military system of an empire were able to take the world by the 
throat. The giant forces at the command of civilization are rapidly 
undergoing organization for the smashing of this coterie, this military 
system, and this empire, if necessary. 

[22G | 



Friday, May 10, 1918 
United, and Indomitable 

IT IS unnecessary to go into great details in discussing the par- 
liamentary crisis in England, which culminated yesterday in a 

decisive victory for Premier Lloyd George over the forces that 
seek to overthrow the government. The struggle is at bottom an 
attempt by the military element to obtain and assert a dictatorship 
over the British empire. This attempt is made "with good motives 
and for justifiable ends," the purpose being to consolidate the strength 
of the empire and thus defeat Germany. But the civil authority of 
Great Britain, founded upon centuries of struggle with tyranny backed 
by military force, is determined that the institutions of free govern- 
ment shall not be subverted, even under the excuse that it is necessary 
to create an absolutism in order to cope with the absolutism of 
Germany. 

The citizens of the United States who are students of history 
and who are now narrowly watching the evolution of governments 
are deeply interested in the situation in Britain. They earnestly 
desire the triumph of the civil power as personified by Premier Lloyd 
George. Americans are not unaware of the tremendous strides made 
in America toward the consolidation of powers in the hands of a 
few. This tendency, however, does not present the sinister face of 
usurpation of power by the military, and there is no indication that 
the military branches of the government will have the hardihood to 
ask for dictatorial powers. President Wilson's timely and emphatic 
suppression of the move to clothe the military courts with power to 
seize and try individuals charged with sedition is sufficient evidence 
that he, the commander-in-chief of the army and navy, is not seek- 
ing fundamental changes in the government. He has extraordinary 
powers, powers never before conferred upon a President, but there 
is no ground for supposing that he will exercise them in such manner 
as to strengthen the military branch at the expense of the civil au- 
thority. In the meantime, the mere fact that the powers granted are 
novel and unprecedented is sufficient to cause many acute and studious 
American citizens to watch with vigilance the exercise of these powers. 

It is fortunate for the close cooperation of the United States, 
Great Britain, France and Italy that the crisis in England has em- 
phasized the determination of Englishmen to hold fast to the foun- 
dations of freedom. The war is sweeping many men from their moor- 

r 227 1 



UNITED AND INDOMITABLE 

ings, so that the wildest heresies are preached and the most absurd 
doctrines accepted as true. There are some solid truths, however, 
which will not budge. One of these truths is crystallized in the 
phrase, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." Free men must 
guard freedom after having fought for it and won it. They must 
guard it against themselves and other free men, who would destroy 
it through ignorance or other weakness. 

The German empire is united and as a military machine is won- 
derfully effective. But, as the Italians wittily have said, "Germany 
wins battles and loses wars." A nation must be more than a military 
machine, or it will lose in the military game. The unity of the Ger- 
mans is not the unconquerable unity of the American States, which 
has been proved by fire to be a spiritual and moral as well as physical 
union. The enemy league does not present the unity that now in- 
spires the souls of the allied nations. The enemy nations, having 
joined only for selfish schemes of plunder, are already beginning to 
quarrel among themselves over the spoils, and Austria is fainting 
because of hunger and war sickness. The entente allies, on the other 
hand, are more compact than ever, more heartily joined in unselfish 
mutual help. They are not fighting for spoils, and thus have no 
cause for quarrel. They are fighting for liberty, and the more liberty 
they achieve the less excuse they have for quarreling. 

It is an earnest both of the glory and the certain triumph of the 
allies that every stroke they make is for the weak as well as the 
strong, the oppressed as well as the free. Eternal right is the moral 
force that sustains every musket, every bayonet, every gun, every 
ship and every man on the allied side. As the light triumphs over 
darkness, the battering ram of the allied nations is breaking down the 
barriers that have kept mankind from freedom. Victory runs ahead 
of the allied battle lines, and flashes the message of doom in the eyes 
of the enemy hordes. The would-be shacklers of humanity know they 
are trapped, condemned and sentenced to destruction. Their day of 
execution is coming. In their last days they are desperately striv- 
ing to break through the steel net, vainly threatening that if they 
must die they will carry down civilization flaming into the pit of 
annihilation. Their threats are as vain as their assaults. They can- 
not carry down civilization. Civilization, in the form of France, 
Great Britain, Italy and the United States, is an indomitable and 
conquering union which has resolved that the world shall not only 
resist German encroachment, but shall strike off the remaining 
shackles of humanity. The brute force and unified control necessary 
to make this decree effective are now in possession of the allies. 

[228] 



Saturday, May 11, 1918 
Strike Down Hapsburg 

IF RUSSIA had remained intact as a member of the entente alliance 
opposed to Germany, the struggle on the western front would 

have been quite different in detail and in general. Even if Russia 
had done nothing more than Austria is doing as a partner of Ger- 
many, the allies would have had a much lighter load, if they had not 
actually ended the war with victory. 

This observation is made, not for the purpose of crying over 
spilt milk or upbraiding the Russians, but to give point to the sug- 
gestion that what Germany has done to the allies may be done by 
the allies to Germany. Germany dealt a terrible blow to England, 
France and Italy by disabling Russia. The allies can deal a terrible 
if not fatal blow to Germany by disabling Austria. 

Russia was an autocracy holding together a lot of races. One 
small stroke, at the psychological moment, knocked the autocracy 
to pieces. The races thereupon plunged into anarchy, and there was 
no Russia so far as fighting Germany was concerned. 

Austria is an autocracy holding together more races than are in 
Russia. The races in Russia are not trying to segregate themselves 
and set up distinct governments, as a rule. But in Austria the races 
are antagonistic, and are trying to segregate themselves and set up 
their own free governments. 

Nicholas Romanoff held control with a feeble hand, but his 
hold upon the people of Russia was a rod of iron compared with the 
control of Karl Hapsburg over the angry and explosive races of 
Austria. At the psychological moment a small stroke could knock 
the Hapsburg dynasty to pieces. It is rotten to the core, a dead 
thing propped up and given a semblance of life, as the body of the 
Cid Campeador was propped upon his war horse at Valencia. The 
Hapsburg dynasty should have been entombed long ago, like all 
other relics of the age of tyranny and intolerance. 

Twenty-seven millions of human beings are held in involuntary 
servitude to the Hapsburg throne. The stripling who happens to 
occupy this throne exercises the power of life and death over these 
people, who are of a different race and language. The men of mil- 
itary age are impressed into the armies that are trying to beat down 
the instinct of liberty. The manhood of these 27,000,000, in other 
words, is forced to fight for Hapsburg and Hohenzollern, forced to 

[229] 



STRIKE DOWN HAPSBURG 

strike down and kill the men of France, Britain, America, and Italy. 
Thus the two autocracies actually utilize the intelligence and brawn 
of men whereby these men forge chains upon themselves and then 
kill any men who try to rescue them. 

Tens of thousands of men in the Austrian army would mutiny if 
they had reason to believe they would be aided in their efforts to 
shake off the Hapsburg chains. They remain in chains merely be- 
cause they are not organized and because they are prevented from 
hearing the call of the trumpet that will never sound retreat. 

What are the allied governments thinking of, that they do not 
strike down Austria, as Germany struck down Russia? There are 
four allied navies which can make up a fleet to force the Adriatic 
and take the Austrian coasts. The Austrian navy would mutiny and 
kill off its Austrian commanders if the allies would start the ball roll- 
ing. At the very spot where this war started is the weakest spot of the 
enemy's armor. There, in Austria, are the mines of political dyna- 
mite all laid, ready to be sprung. The allies know that Bohemian 
troops deserted by thousands from the Austrian army. They know 
that Bohemian troops are now assembling as an individual army in 
France. They have seen 3,500 Slavs, subjects of Austria, go nearly 
around the world to join the allied forces at Saloniki. They know 
that Bohemians, Slavs and Roumanians who fought with the allies 
and were captured by Austria have been shot as traitors, and yet 
these races join the allies and keep up the fight which their fore- 
fathers fought. For 500 years some of these races have been trying 
to escape from the Hapsburg yoke. Their sacrifices outshine the 
most illustrious pages of American history. 

The coast of Dalmatia is open. One or two raids, far less dan- 
gerous than those of Zeebrugge and Ostend, would give the allies a 
foothold and a means of communication with the races that are ready 
to start the fires of revolution. The Austrian army would be a pan- 
demonium from the moment the soldiers heard of this allied advance. 
The Austrian navy could not be held by its Hapsburg master, as it 
is 90 per cent pro-ally. 

When will the allies take a leaf from Germany's book? When 
will they strike at the enemy's vulnerable spot, instead of closing their 
eyes to his weakness? 

If none of the European allies is prepared to go into the Adriatic 
and light the fires, why should not the United States navy be chosen 
for the task? There is not a man in the service, from vice admiral 
to cabin boy, who would not be delighted with the opportunity. 

F 230 1 



Sunday, May 12, 1918 
The Resolve of Humanity 

THE ENEMY is massing his forces for another attack, in the 
hope of breaking through the British or French armies, or 
both. Up to this hour the mightiest armies that Germany could 
assemble have met with failure in trying to disable the forces of civ- 
ilization. Still further efforts will be made, some of them perhaps 
as formidable as that which began on March 21. But we steadfastly 
believe that the German power culminated in March, and that every 
succeeding battle will betray the dwindling strength of the enemy. 
Yet he will fight, for he has no other recourse except to sue for peace 
on the allies' terms. 

That must be the end of this war — peace on the terms laid down 
by civilization. Those terms must provide for the permanent dis- 
armament of the German empire, if it should remain an empire. 
The world cannot trust the German empire in any peace promises, 
guarantees, or pledges. The only safe course for liberty to pursue 
is to disarm its enemy, and this course must be pursued to the end, 
no matter how great the time or effort required. Nothing is so neces- 
sary to man as his liberty. He can afford to pay any price necessary 
to obtain and establish it. 

The idea persists that this war must end in a compromise, under 
which Germany will return substantially to the position she occupied 
just before the outbreak. How can there be such an outcome, when 
the real issue at stake is considered? Is humanity to make a com- 
promise whereby it will be half free and half threatened with German 
mastership? Is there a condition in which a nation may be half slave 
and half free? The United States answered that question 50 years 
ago. 

This war goes to the roots of human society. It is the outward 
evidence of a world revolution that cannot stop until its purpose has 
been fulfilled. That purpose is the liberation of man. It does not 
matter how the war started or what motives inspired it. The essen- 
tial fact is that a part of humanity, stripping itself of all responsi- 
bility to God and man, and arming itself with modern powers on a 
tremendous scale, attacked the remainder of humanity for the purpose 
of making it subject in all respects to one will — to enslave it. 

Contemporary humanity has not yet recovered from its stupe- 
faction in trying to comprehend the astounding fact that a leading 

[231] 



THE RESOLVE OF HUMANITY 

nation, in the twentieth century, should in a twinkling cast off all 
pretense of civilization and stand forth a stark barbarian bent upon 
the slaughter of nations until they have all been either killed or 
enslaved. There is an explanation, and in due time the whole story 
will be unfolded and understood. There is not time for that now. 

Assailed and dazed humanity has risen superbly to its own de- 
fense. The greatest nations in the world are linked together as com- 
rades in a compact that will not end this side of death. They are 
supported by all other nations, without regard to race, color, or forms 
of government. Mankind is beginning to understand that it is a fight 
which must end either with the death of the enemy or the death of 
human freedom. Seeing that fact more clearly every day, the free 
men of this world are sharpening their swords, filling their wallets, 
and gathering together for a finish fight. They will remain free. 
But more than that, more glorious than that, they will make their 
brethren free. 

Before this war ends there will not be a human being who is 
robbed of his right to share in governing himself. The rule that any 
man born of woman shall have the right to snuff out the lives of 
millions of his fellows for the sake of extending his own power over 
the world — this rule is in process of extinction. Tens of millions of 
unconquerable souls, yes, hundreds of millions of free spirits have re- 
solved that that rule shall be extinguished from the book of mankind. 
They have resolved that the worshipers of that rule shall surren- 
der or be put to death. They have resolved that all men shall be 
given the power that is so long overdue, the power to determine their 
own government and name their own governors. 

When these deeps in the soul of mankind are sounded it needs 
no prophet to foretell the end of William Hohenzollern and those 
of his followers who persist in the mad project of shackling humanity. 
He and they will be swept away in the blast, and the sands of the 
desert will be easier to identify than the bones of Hohenzollern. 



[232 



Friday, May 17, 1918 

In the Toils 

IN A speech to the town council of Aix-la-Chapelle a few days ago 
the German emperor endeavored to cheer faint-hearted Germans 
by describing the devastation in France. He asked them to con- 
sole themselves with the thought that they had escaped such horrors, 
and to "be satisfied with their lot and bear patiently the hardships 
and privations of war." Then he added: 

"The offensive goes well ahead. Already 600,000 English have 
been put hors de combat and 1,600 guns have been captured. Every- 
where the French must help. Our opponents have had a bad time. 
They deserved nothing else. Our task in the west will be accom- 
plished, but we must be patient. We cannot settle in a day armies of 
millions. 

"We shall obtain our aim. Difficult tasks are before us, but to 
deal with these we have efficient workers." 

"Whoever is faint-hearted, be patient," says Hohenzollern. "It 
might be worse. Look at the devastation we have wrought. Let that 
be a substitute for food. Look at the ashes, and cease to lament. Be 
satisfied with your lot, even if you are starving to death. Don't ask 
me about the victory I was to win in March. Be patient. Don't 
keep clamoring for bread. We have killed many English. Consume 
that thought as a substitute for bread. Be satisfied. Bear patiently 
your hardships and privations. We have hard work ahead. Don't 
make it harder by asking for bread when there is no bread." 

The German emperor sings a tune quite different from the psean 
which he chanted in March, when he took personal command of the 
armies that had reached "the turning point of history." At that time 
he assured the German people that the supreme hour had come, when 
the mailed fist was to strike the fatal blow. In answer to the rising 
clamors of his people he promised them early and overwhelming vic- 
tory over France, England and America, which would compel them 
to make quick peace on Germany's terms, and enable the German 
people to fatten themselves on the spoils of the whole world. He 
attempted to make this promise good by assembling all his forces 
and striking with all his might. 

He failed. The offensive that began March 21 ended within a 
week with a loss of 300,000 Germans. It netted Germany some of the 
devastated ground of which the emperor spoke so feelingly. There 

[233] 



IN THE TOILS 

was not a loaf of bread, not a potato, not a piece of sausage in the 
whole area. Three hundred thousand Germans lost, and not a scrap 
of sauerkraut in return! That was the turning point of history, but 
it turned the wrong way for Germany. 

Then came the realization by the emperor and his generals that 
the end of German power was in sight. The allies had taken Ger- 
many's measure. The reserves of Germany were all assembled. The 
reserves of the allies stretch back to America, into a reservoir con- 
taining 20,000,000 men of military age, equipped with all the re- 
sources of the New World. This appalling fact burst upon the fated 
emperor and his captains on the day when the French and British 
armies breasted the German waves and shattered them. It is a fact 
which must be concealed from the German people by every trick and 
device known to desperation and mendacity. Not until the German 
power is crushed, not until the empire is on its knees will Hohenzol- 
lern cease his attempt to buttress his dynasty with the bones of Ger- 
mans. He will slaughter them down to the last man rather than yield 
his throne and his life. "Be patient," he tells them. "Let me continue 
to kill you off. Starve until I need your carcass to stop the allies' 
bullets. Don't ask questions. Don't learn the truth. Be satisfied 
to starve and die." 

The Germans are starving and dying, but they are not satisfied. 
The emperor would not have spoken as he did, if his people had been 
satisfied and confident. The ugly and menacing note is heard. The 
people are not satisfied to look upon devastated France as a recom- 
pense for thtir own privations and losses. Too many German sons 
and brothers lie in devastated France to make the region attractive. 
The conquest of this devastated region means the recovery and en- 
largement of a German graveyard, but it does not mean victory or 
bread. It means more hope deferred, more privation, more sons 
and brothers slain, more certain exhaustion and defeat. 

The imperial assassin is approaching the breaking point. With 
his enemies rising in enormous irresistible masses in the western world, 
with the nations of Europe unconquerable and gradually exhausting 
his armies, Hohenzollern now hears the unmistakable undertone of 
warning from his own people, telling him that the end is approaching. 
He must defeat the world or die. He must satisfy them with victory 
or with his head. He has slaughtered their millions of sons. They 
are beginning to ask for an accounting. His falsehoods may postpone 
the reckoning for a few days or weeks — a mere moment in this stu- 
pendous tragedy. The inescapable climax draws near. 

[234] 



Saturday, May 18, 1918 

The Heroic Hour 

THE suggestion that Congress should adjourn without enacting 
legislation required for the conduct of the war is an absurdity 
which will find no support among statesmen. It is hardly 
worthy even of a politician. When the officials who are responsible 
for the financial operations of the government advise Congress that 
taxation legislation is necessary, there need be no apprehension that 
Congress will neglect its duty. If there are any .senators or members 
who are more anxious to repair their fences than to win the war, 
let them persist a while. Their constituents will do the rest. 

No legislator need fear defeat for attending to his duty as a 
guardian of the liberty of this Union. He will not be punished for 
any peculiarly striking act of patriotism. No instance can be cited 
in which a legislator has been defeated for his Americanism. Even 
in a hotbed of disloyalty like Wisconsin a stalwart American was 
elected to the Senate, the majority thereby removing the erroneous 
impression that the preponderating sentiment of Wisconsin was dis- 
loyalty. Wisconsin is not disloyal. Neither is any other State, al- 
though there may be spots as intensely pro-German as there are in 
Wisconsin. As the war goes on the people of each State will take 
care of the dangerous spots. 

It is for Congress to support the President wholeheartedly, just 
as it is the duty of the President to credit Congress with good faith 
and patriotism. The people expect these branches of government to 
work harmoniously. If the resolution pending in the Senate is deemed 
by the President a reflection upon his conduct of the war, it should be 
amended forthwith, without a moment of hesitation, as a mark of 
respect and courtesy to the Executive. It will be noted that the Presi- 
dent does not question the powers of Congress or attempt to encroach 
upon them. If he should attempt to do so it would be the duty of 
Congress to stand firmly upon its rights, in absolute disregard of any 
plea or threat from the Executive. In its own sphere of rights each 
department of the government is invincible. 

The Presidency and Congress earn from the people the respect 
to which they are entitled, and no more. Each administration and 
each Congress makes its own character. The people are only too 
glad to support wise statesmanship and resolute leadership. It is 
irresolution, cowardice, and lack of vision that they despise. No 

r 235 1 



THE HEROIC HOUR 

man has ever been great enough to exhaust the possibilities of a seat 
in Congress, much less the seat in the White House. Daniel Webster 
was a deep-thoughted statesman, but a senatorship did not cabin 
and confine his powers. If he had been greater, there would have 
been room for his greatness in the Senate. 

Infinite possibilities for good are inherent in Congress. It is a 
field for creative statesmanship stretching across the ages. Men cap- 
able of conceiving massive constructive work could find in Congress 
the opportunity for adding to those colossal beams and pillars which 
underlie and support the United States. These are heroic days. They 
demand heroic men. One such man is in the White House. Clasp 
hands with him, men of Congress ! Try to look into the future. Gaze 
over the spaces of the world. Do not voluntarily narrow your gaze 
to your district, your State, or your nation. You can be among the 
shapers of the destiny of mankind. You should be in the vanguard 
of the world's lawmakers, guiding humanity toward liberty and order. 
The Constitution imposes no limitations upon the intellect; on the 
contrary, it presupposes in Congress an intellect and a wisdom that 
will be capable of rounding out the nation's greatness. 

Any lawmaker who will read the preamble to the Constitution 
can find all the inspiration he needs. The purposes for which this 
"more perfect Union" was founded are a synopsis of the whole duty 
of man and civilization. 

The present Congress must have more initiative, and must ex- 
ercise its own indisputable authority more thoroughly and resolutely 
if it is to meet the needs of this tremendous hour. President Wilson 
needs the help of a great, far-seeing, creative Congress, a Congress not 
stopping to quibble over questions of authority, but honestly announc- 
ing its purpose to cooperate with the Executive and then doing so 
in its own way, relying upon the President to do his full duty. It is 
a reproach to the present Congress that the executive departments 
must think out and frame the laws. 



[236] 



Monday, May 20, 1918 

The End Ordained 

GERMANY knows as well as her antagonists that she must win 
■ the war this summer or face certain defeat. When President 
Wilson asked, "Why limit the army to 5,000,000 men?" and 
answered his question by stating that the first duty of the United 
States is to win the war, he put into words the only certainty of this 
war — the certainty of Germany's defeat. It is not merely because 
President Wilson says this that the words are important. It is be- 
cause he faithfully voices the fixed determination of this nation. 

For the very reason that the United States will carry the war 
to a successful finish, at whatever cost of time, men, treasure, and 
effort, Germany will redouble her effort to beat down the allied armies 
this summer. Germany still believes that if she can force France and 
England to quit she can offer such a tempting peace to America that 
the "dollar worshipers" will not be able to resist it. The German 
emperor's plans are vastly extended since Russia crumbled. The 
steady penetration of Russia, as shown by the occupation yesterday 
of an island close to Petrograd, means that Germany hopes to be 
able to offer "generous" terms to the United States in the event the 
western allies are beaten and Germany finds herself mistress of 
Europe and part of Asia. As President Wilson observes, every 
concession which Germany pretends to make in the west is for the 
purpose of gaining a firmer hold in the east. Whatever the bitter- 
ness of the fighting in France, Germany hopes and expects, in case of 
victory, that she can salve America's wounded feelings by offering to 
share the spoils of the British empire. Germany cannot conceive 
that the United States would continue the war if great material gains 
were offered as a bribe for peace. 

The greatest danger to Germany lies in the accumulation of 
American forces in France and in the increasing disorders in Austria. 
Time works against Germany in both matters. It is all-essential 
that the allies should be smashed before American forces outnumber 
the Germans, and before Austria is set on fire with mutiny and revo- 
lution. 

Therefore a ferocious onslaught is coming. Once more the enemy 
will try to break down the British and French armies. German in- 
trigue has tried every possible method of disintegrating the allies 
and wearing down their morale without success. Neither propaganda 

[237] 



THE END ORDAINED 

nor aerial raids nor long-range guns nor sabotage has had the desired 
effect. Reluctantly the German emperor and his generals have been 
forced to the conclusion that the only possible means of escape from 
the trap is to cut a path by force. This has just been tried and has 
put out of action at least 600,000 Germans, more than a year's supply. 
It is a terrible prospect for Germany, but there is no alternative ex- 
cept defeat and acceptance of the allies' terms. Rather than sur- 
render the spoils of murdered nations, rather than yield up his system 
of assassinating neighboring peoples, the kaiser will sacrifice another 
year's supply of Germans. 

The coming struggle calls for all the energy, all the alertness, 
and all the strength of the allied nations, but there is nothing in the 
situation that warrants pessimism. The black outlook is on the 
German side. There despair and death await the imperial adventurer 
and his followers. On the allied side there is assurance of victory 
after hard trial. France and Great Britain are nerved for the battle, 
vigilant, reticent, awake to every opportunity for harvesting enemies. 
Behind them stands the United States, pouring forth the elements 
of victory. At least 500,000 Americans are in France — a force worth 
while. 

The allies will be encouraged by the message of President Wil- 
son, in which he makes clear to friend and foe that the United States 
has but one aim, the defeat of Germany. That assurance means much 
to the allied men in the trenches, who will see in every American sol- 
dier an evidence of the fresh force that will flow to Europe until the 
victory is won. The Germans, seeing these Americans, will see cor- 
responding evidence that their cause is lost. They may try to vent 
their hate upon the Americans confronting them, but they can never 
hope to stem the flood from the New World. Fight and die as furi- 
ously as they will, the end of the war is ordained. Liberty has not 
drawn her sword against her last enemy without putting her immortal 
avenging spirit behind the thrust. 



[238] 



Wednesday, May 22, 1918 

Liberty, Not Peace 

THE idea seems to prevail in some quarters that a genuine offer 
of peace from Germany would cause an immediate cessation of 
the war and a prompt settlement of the issues that divide the 
two great war camps. It is assumed that the reason why the war 
issues are not settled is that all of Germany's peace offers are fraudu- 
lent; that if any one of these offers should prove to be genuine, the 
war would cease. 

But this is not the case. The war goes on in spite of the desire 
for peace, and it must go on in spite of fraudulent or genuine peace 
overtures until the people of the world actually gain and have means 
of establishing their freedom. Germany desires peace. The German 
people have given unmistakable evidence of their longing for peace. 
Austria wants peace. The allies all desire peace. It is not because 
the world wants war that the war goes on, and the universal desire 
for peace does not bring peace. Why not? 

It is because humanity is aroused and will not return to peace 
until something more precious than peace has been gained and fixed. 
That is liberty. 

When Germany concocted war she confidently believed that she 
could have peace at any moment by merely expressing a desire for it 
and by offering sufficient "inducement." Now, as the fourth year 
of the war comes toward its end, famished and bleeding Germany 
knows how much harder it is to have peace than to have war. The 
would-be murderers of nations started a fire they cannot quench. 
They aroused passions which will not lie down while the German 
empire exists armed. If Germany should revolutionize herself, throw 
away her murder gear and become free, the remainder of the world 
would immediately begin in a peaceful way the task of untying sub- 
ject races from obsolete thrones and setting up free governments. 
This task cannot be performed peacefully while Germany is armed 
and dominated by nation slayers. It is only by blasting Germany 
to pieces that mankind can free subject nations. This blasting process 
will necessarily continue and become more violent so long as Germany 
remains an obstacle to liberty. 

No truer words were ever spoken than those uttered by Mr. 
Balfour when he declared that the war must go on until Germany was 

[239] 



LIBERTY, NOT PEACE 

either powerless or free. Every development of the war, every step 
taken by the United States since April 6, 1917, and every plan now 
unfolding emphasizes the truth of that statement. War is a perma- 
nent institution until liberty is gained for the world, and liberty can- 
not be gained until Germany is disarmed and made pro-liberty. 

Peace is not the thing. Peace may be shameful and more dan- 
gerous than war. Germany's appeal for peace would mean nothing, 
even if the appeal should be genuine, if it were not an appeal from 
a beaten nation, asking for mercy. The allies must go to the end in 
the execution of their duty as trustees of humanity. They must 
disarm Germany and tear away the bonds that strangle the freedom- 
loving nations now overridden by Germany, Austria, Bulgaria and 
Turkey. Those nations must be set up as free governments, independ- 
ently exercising their own rule by consent of their own people, and ab- 
solutely relieved of any further danger of German aggression. When 
that has been accomplished, peace will come, and it will be a peace 
worth while. 

The United States occupies a powerful position and can be the 
most influential nation in the world in establishing freedom if it will 
adhere to its ideals and resolutely befriend the weak nations. Presi- 
dent Wilson has blocked out in a general way the features of the new 
Europe. It would be the world's greatest misfortune to have the 
United States waver in its purpose as outlined by its great President. 
That purpose cannot be accomplished by peace. It can only be ac- 
complished by war. Germany endeavored by force to enchain man- 
kind. Free nations are assembling superior force that will strike the 
shackles from mankind. Not peace, but war; not negotiation, but 
force; not a cessation of hostilities, but redoubled energy in fighting — 
that is the hard road to freedom. Hereafter humanity will take 
pains to keep brute power away from peoples that have no moral 
sense. The nations will make sure that no one of them shall accum- 
ulate excessive brute force that could be used for war. 



[240] 



Thursday, May 23, 1918 
Imperishable Italy 

ITALY, as undaunted as France, enters upon her fourth year of 
war. It is most fitting that the anniversary should be celebrated 
in the countries allied to Italy, and it is especially appropriate 
that the United States should take note of Italy's indomitable and 
heroic temper, in spite of terrible vicissitudes. Before Italy's re- 
verses in October last, the most urgent pleas were made for materials 
from this country. No complaint was ever made by the Italian gov- 
ernment or people concerning the nature or extent of American aid, 
but there will forever remain a question whether the United States 
fully comprehended the dangers that surrounded Italy at that time. 

But granting that the United States was slow to grasp the Italian 
situation, as it has been slow with its airplane construction and with 
several other vital enterprises in this war, the fact remains that Amer- 
icans are keenly sympathetic with Italy and warm admirers of Italian 
valor. The United States is far more alive to the war situation in 
Europe than it was when Italy became a belligerent. There need be 
no apprehension that America will fail in its duty as an ally. 

Italy occupied a unique position when the world war began. 
She was an ally of Germany and Austria-Hungary. If the Italian 
monarch had been a traitor to his ancestry, his country, and to civili- 
zation, as was Constantine of Greece, the war would have taken a 
course entirely different from that which has become history. France 
would have been subjected to a double attack of crushing force, at 
a time when she and her allies were not prepared. With the defeat 
of France the map of Europe would have changed in a twinkling. 

The Italian king and government had had an opportunity to 
gauge the true nature of the other parties to the triple alliance during 
the war over Tripoli. The Italian fleet was prepared to bombard an 
important Turkish port when Germany and Austria conveyed to 
Italy an unmistakable threat of war if it should dare to carry hostil- 
ities out of Africa. This and other incidents of Teuton treachery 
opened the eyes of King Victor Emmanuel and his government. They 
had once before protested against Austria's violence toward Serbia, 
and when the present war was opened by Austria's brutal aggression 
against Serbia it was impossible for Italy to countenance such an 
outrage. Italy gave notice of its withdrawal from the triple alliance. 

[241] 



IMPERISHABLE ITALY 

The German and Austrian emperors used every possible weapon 
of entreaty, bribery, and menace to induce Italy to join the black 
flag. It was in vain. The situation in Italy was most difficult, and 
only an active sense of loyalty to duty, honor, and civilization could 
have prevailed against the influences which operated in favor of Ger- 
many and Austria. The country was economically in the hands of 
Germans. The banks, manufacturing establishments, steamship lines 
and industrial enterprises were financed in Germany. The university 
professors were almost to a man worshipers of German science and 
literature. Germany was the foremost example of a pushing, prosper- 
ous, scientifically developed social organization, and her material 
success seemed to hypnotize the Italian teachers. There was also a 
strong socialist school in Italy deriving its vitality from Germans. 
Moreover, the country was impoverished by the Tripolitan war, and 
the pacifists, led by the brilliant Giolitti, had strong arguments on 
their side. Finally, Prince von Buelow conducted a propaganda of 
unparalleled scope, audacity and skill. It was far more penetrating 
and expert than the German propaganda in the United States. 

King Emmanuel stood true to his race and to humanity. His 
counselors were well chosen. The chamber responded to the patriotic 
spirit of the king and the people. The failure of Germany and Austria 
to induce Italy to hurl 500,000 men upon France was followed by 
Italy's entry into the war at a moment when it meant the demoraliza- 
tion of Germany's offensive against Russia. Later, at a critical mo- 
ment which history will more fully discuss, Italy began an offensive 
which relieved the western allies. Thus, in at least three distinct 
crises, Italy proved to be not merely the faithful friend, but prac- 
tically the saviour of her allies. 

Now, after tasting the bitterness of a reverse which has given 
the enemy an opportunity to ravage Venetia and enslave its people, 
Italy is employing every energy to cope with the situation. An enor- 
mous force confronts the brave defenders of Italy. But the western 
allies have sent aid, and they will send more to the side of King 
Emmanuel's men. Civilization owed much to ancient Italy, but 
it owes more to the Italy of today. The world would not permit the 
memory of Rome to die, nor will it permit Italy to become a memory. 
A nation which is inspired by the conscience that inspires Italy, and 
which is defended by such resolute and unconquerable souls as those 
of Italy, is not made for death. It remains imperishable. 



[242 



Friday, May SI, 1918 
The Elements of Victory 

QUITE naturally the world's eyes are turned toward the battle 
line in France, where the commotion is greatest and the noise 
loudest. But it may be a serious question whether the most 
important elements of the war are not elsewhere. Strategic advan- 
tages may show conclusively to experts that one side or the other is 
entitled to be regarded as victor, but the vanquished one goes on as 
though nothing had happened. The only effect of battles and series 
of battles has been to change the scenes of action. History tells us 
that in previous wars the issue was finally decided as a rule by power 
in action. But not always, even when it was comparatively easy 
for nations to discover the extent of their resources in developing 
power. 

In the minor campaigns of this war, immense superiority of 
brute force enabled the Germans, assisted by allied shortsightedness, 
to snuff out Belgium, Serbia and Roumania. But in the bigger strug- 
gles, it seems to be impossible for the great adversaries to wield all 
their power in such fashion as to destroy the opposing power. Ger- 
many could not beat the Russian armies even when the latter were 
demoralized. Germany and Austria-Hungary combined could not 
crush Italy when the opportunity to do so was open. How much 
harder is it, then, for Germany to beat the compact and highly or- 
ganized armies of France and Britain? There seems to be a limit 
beyond which organization cannot go, be it ever so efficient. It is 
still a slave to time, space, the power of gravitation, and the "human 
element" that throws all plans off the track at the critical moment. 

While France and Great Britain hold their communications it 
need not be feared that Germany can defeat them. Germany's mil- 
itary power is dependent upon many factors which are overlooked in 
the excitement of one of her tremendous drives. If given time, Ger- 
many might utilize Russia as a reservoir for men as the allies can 
use the United States. But there is no time. Germany must win 
now or never. She must break out of the steel ring that keeps her 
from the oceans, or all her effort is vain, for the allies, having the use 
of the earth's waters, can carry the war on indefinitely and prosper 
while doing so, whereas Germany cannot live forever on her own 
reserve fat. 

[243] 



THE ELEMENTS OF VICTORY 

The necessity for relief is shown by the well-nigh frantic efforts 
of the Germans. They are now throwing in men who have just re- 
covered their breath after the disastrous attacks of March and 
April. The drive toward the Marne and to the westward is a des- 
perate affair, far more desperate on Germany's part than on the part 
of the defenders. Probably within another day or two the bulk of 
the American forces will have been shifted from their quiet sector to 
aid the allies to the northwestward. But whether the Americans are 
engaged or not, the opposition encountered by the invaders as they 
work nearer to Paris becomes stronger and stronger, and the position 
of the enemy becomes more dangerous. 

Germany is overlooking no possible chance to obtain a sea outlet. 
She has compelled Finland and Russia to agree to a bargain that 
will give Germany a submarine base on the Murman coast, whence 
the U-boats may work from the Arctic into the North Sea. The so- 
called government of Russia has consented to this arrangement on 
condition that Finland shall yield up two forts in the Baltic, both 
of which, however, are to be dismantled on orders from Germany. 

The enemy intrigues in far eastern Russia are indefatigably 
endeavoring to gain control of a Pacific outlet. Gen. Semenoff, the 
anti-bolshevik leader, is checkmating the Germans quite success- 
fully in cooperation with China and Japan, but now Russia makes 
demands upon China which, if granted, will thrust Semenoff from 
Manchurian soil. These demands are inspired, of course, by Germany, 
as are all of the anti-allied moves of the Russian government. It 
seems probable that Japan must be permitted to take a firm grip 
upon the situation in the Far East, in behalf of all the allies and 
Russia. The Russians object to Japanese interference, but it is a 
question how far this objection is inspired by Germany. 

The allies hold the seas. They have the German empire in a 
vise. Not a German vessel dares be seen on the surface of the waters, 
and very few of them dare skulk beneath. The submarine, Ger- 
many's greatest weapon, greater than her armies in determining the 
fate of mankind, has been beaten. The Old and the New World hold 
uninterrupted communication. This means that civilization can 
accumulate the materials required for sustained warfare, and can 
keep German naval and commercial fleets off the oceans. The war 
now being a war of nations, it is not difficult to foresee the end if the 
observer will take a position above the smoke of battle and some- 
what removed from the thunder of the captains and the shouting. 



[244] 



Saturday, June 1, 1918 
Through War to Liberty 

THE progress of the enemy in the salient between Soissons and 
Rheims, reaching down to the Marne, is such as to give rise to 
the question whether his plan is not primarily designed to cut 
deeply to the eastward of Paris, breaking off the communications of 
the allied forces operating in eastern and northeastern France. In 
that region is the greater part of the American army. The communi- 
cations of the Americans run quite a distance to the southward of 
the Marne, but the rapidity of the German infantry advance indi- 
cates that the allied opposition in that section is almost negligible. 
The French main forces are evidently massed on the line between 
Noyon and Ypres, with strong reserves defending Paris. Whether 
Gen. Foch has calculated upon the possibility of an enemy dash 
directly southward from the Marne, and has forestalled this dash 
by posting adequate forces on the lines of communication, may be 
demonstrated within a few hours. 

The German drive is viewed from widely separated standpoints, 
according to the information and temperament of the individual. The 
most superficial view is the most pessimistic. If the observer looks 
merely upon the moving picture, and is disposed to exaggerate the 
enemy's prowess, he is apt to jump to the conclusion that Germany 
has administered a staggering blow to the allies and is about to dis- 
able France. That conclusion, fortunately, is utterly unwarranted 
by the facts. 

It has been demonstrated again and again during this war that 
the temporary situation on the battlefields is an untrustworthy guide 
to correct conclusions. Even when great battles end in overwhelming 
victory for one side or the other, it is unsafe for the civilian to 
assume that the end of the war is hastened, much less determined. 
Many an important city has changed hands during this short war, 
and yet the war takes no heed of such events. The occupation of 
stretches of territory or the capture of thousands of prisoners turns 
out to be nothing but the accident of a day, to be neutralized by the 
next day's accidents. 

Vast influences affecting the human race as a whole must be borne 
in mind. The savage rupture of all ties of honor, for instance, makes 
this war unique and prevents any ruler, statesman, general or nation 
from reckoning with certainty upon the usual elements which con- 

[245] 



THROUGH WAR TO LIBERTY 

strain nation? toward peace. Formerly a nation sorely worn down 
by war could sue for peace, well assured that its enemy would be 
magnanimous for the sake of restoring friendship and profitable in- 
tercourse. But now there is no such assurance. Nations fight to the 
death, by choice and by necessity. It is worse than death for a 
nation to surrender to Germany. 

Another universally operating element which renders ineffective 
any German victory short of the conquest of the human race is the 
determination of mankind to be free. This spirit, imponderable and 
unseen, is the deadly foe that will pierce the heart of Germany and 
annihilate its rulers and their works. The armies of France, Britain, 
Italy, America, and the other allies are mere reminders of that illimit- 
able multitude of human beings inhabiting the earth, who are now, 
at this hour, aroused and on the march to win liberty or death. 

The Ruler of the Universe has permitted astounded humanity 
to be taken unawares and threatened with universal servitude to 
creatures who are endowed with capacity for organizing and working 
in concert, and undeterred by any of the moral scruples which were 
supposed to distinguish humans from beasts and fiends. The assault 
having been made, humanity is doing the best it can, as rapidly as 
it can, to repel the assault, capture and execute the assailant, and 
establish such order as will insure the race against a repetition of 
the assault. The effort takes time, money, and life. These expendi- 
tures cannot be taken into account if the end is to be achieved; that 
is, humanity will not remain in danger for the sake of saving time, 
nor for the sake of saving money, nor for the sake of saving life. The 
war is not a war against time, nor is it a war aimed at the con- 
servation of money or life at the expense of liberty. 

The American chapter of this war is now opening in earnest. 
The storm is about to burst. Thank God, there is not a coward under 
the Stars and Stripes in France. The advance guard of this nation 
will thrill the race with their valor. Americans at home, steel your 
hearts! Strike down treason. Encourage your public servants w r hen 
they are efficient and faithful. Thrust them out if they are pacifists 
or weaklings — thrust them out before they can help the enemy. 
Watch every enemy alien. Cut out luxury. Destroy the traitor 
who tries to rob the government, Watch your own appetite toward 
profiteering, which is simply a method of stabbing your son in the 
back. Don't study the war map; study yourself and your duty. 



[246 



Monday, June 3, 1918 

Germany's Struggle Against Fate 

IF THE enemy were now in the first flush and heyday of his 
strength, as America is, his recent gains of territory in France 

would be rightly construed as evidence of overwhelming power to 
win victory. The outcome of the war would be a certainty on the 
showing made by Germany in the last ten weeks. Why is it, then, 
that neither in Germany nor in allied nations is there any thought 
that the end of the war is near? Why is it that the French nation 
is calm and confident, although the enemy is at the Marne? 

The answer is that France, Great Britain, Italy and America 
have taken Germany's measure and know that the present struggles 
are evidence of weakness and not of strength. The war is going 
against Germany in matters of vast and irresistible influence, far 
transcending in importance and effect any single battle that has ever 
been fought. The trampling of the German hordes at the Marne 
strikes the superficial mind as terribly menacing to the allies. The 
unseen influences that are bearing Germany down to death are not 
those that impress the ear and eye. 

The end of the war is not near, in a count of days or weeks, but 
it is brought nearer by Germany's exertions, which work for her 
earlier defeat. One of the opinions frequently heard is that Ger- 
many's gains of territory prolong the war, the deduction being that 
ground lost must be recovered. That might be true if Germany were 
at the beginning instead of nearing the end of her existence, but 
gains of territory are often affected by other influences which some- 
times make apparent gains real losses. Any war can show a score 
of instances in which gains of territory were disastrous to the gainer. 

Germany is in the sere and yellow leaf as a military power. This 
is the carefully formed conviction of thoroughly informed and im- 
partially detached neutral military experts, coinciding with the ab- 
solute knowledge of the allied governments. Germany's man power 
was at its peak in March. Since March 21 several hundred thousand 
Germans have been put out of action and several hundred thousand 
Americans have gone into action. The subtraction from enemy 
strength and the addition of allied strength since March 21 constitutes 
a total which may now, at this moment, spell German defeat, but 
the process is continuous, and will continue so long as Germany burns 
up her man power. Every assault upon the allies is more costly to 

[247] 



GERMANY'S STRUGGLE AGAINST FATE 

Germany than to the defenders, at the very moment when the de- 
fenders are reinforced by Americans in a rapidly increasing stream. 

The military clique that is hurrying the German empire to de- 
struction is now making the last throw of the dice of war. The 
German armies must either defeat France, Great Britain, Italy, and 
the United States within a few weeks or the plunder gained in four 
years of murderous operations against small nations will be lost and 
the German empire lost with it. What a task! Those fatuous Ger- 
mans who worship Hindenburg and Ludendorff may now contemplate 
them facing the task of subjugating the four strongest nations of 
the world in a few weeks or plunging the whole empire over a preci- 
pice. If these generals are supermen, now is their time to extricate 
the German people from the terrors to come. Surely no human 
creatures have ever faced a greater undertaking. 

Hohenzollern and Hapsburg go down. They are already in the 
rapids. They struggle vigorously, but in that tremendous current, 
among those fanged and jagged rocks, under the tempest of the world's 
wrath, they cannot survive. They snatch at this and that; they shout 
mutual encouragement; they frantically scheme and plan to thwart 
the flood and the rocks and the hurricane. Vain, pitifully vain! 
Their opportunity to avoid danger was before they leaped into war. 
The world did not seek their lives. They brought the forces of death 
down upon their own heads when they turned their backs upon God 
and deliberately used their powers for the murder of nations. The 
havoc they wrought aroused the wrath and might of mankind, and the 
storm will not be laid until the causes are destroyed. 

Grasp the earth in France, Hohenzollern! Cling to it as firmly as 
you can! Any one who has hung above Niagara in a dream, and 
has experienced that cold grip of death around the heart as the earth 
gave way, can understand exactly how Germany feels. 



[248] 



Thursday, June 6, 1918 

Allies Must Help Russia 

THE ALLIES are fighting Germany only in one place. It is true 
that they are temporarily inferior in numbers and have no 
choice but to fight against an enemy offensive. Their resources, 
however, are not confined to the western front, and it is quite within 
the possibilities that all the fighting on the western front will be 
indecisive so far as the defeat of Germany is concerned. Germany 
cannot force a decision in her favor on that front. She is up against 
the strongest side of the three strongest nations in the world, one of 
them much stronger than herself and rapidly concentrating its strength 
against her. After the balance has turned and German forces are 
outnumbered, the work of ejecting the enemy from France will begin 
in earnest and will never let up. 

But in the meantime there is much to be done elsewhere, and 
Germany is doing it on her side. Her offensive in France does not 
deter her from the work of absorbing Finland, penetrating Russia, 
assimilating Roumania and Ukrainia, intriguing in Mexico and South 
America, opening up the Black Sea, working toward Persia, and 
otherwise carrying on the war. What are the allies doing in all these 
war areas to defeat German encroachment? 

Germany can stand on the defensive a long time on the western 
front, after she has been halted. The allies' defensive enables the 
United States to gather a force that will eventually overmatch Ger- 
many's. Will not Germany's defensive then enable her to reassemble 
forces that will eventually overmatch America's, if the allies do not 
checkmate those efforts? 

Russia is the great storehouse of military resources for Ger- 
many. Leave Germany alone and she will develop a system in Russia 
that will not only be able to defy but to conquer the whole world, 
America included. If it be argued that Russians will not consent to 
become soldiers in a vast army .under German control, let it be asked 
how the individual Russians can keep out of the German uniform, once 
Germany has established her system in Russia. There are now in 
the enemy's uniform tens of thousands of men who are deadly enemies 
of Germany and Austria, men who would willingly lay down their 
lives if by so doing they could break Germany's hold upon their 
country. But they can do nothing; they must fight for Germany 

[249] 



ALLIES MUST HELP RUSSIA 

until an opportunity arrives for successful mutiny and revolution. 
The same condition would control Russian soldiers. 

The allies cannot afford to become so absorbed in the western 
front as to lose the war. They must broaden their view and adopt 
Germany's method of fighting the war everywhere, wherever advan- 
tage is to be found. The situation in Russia clamors for statesman- 
ship in the allied nations. It is a reproach to the allied nations that 
they should go on month after month, without unity of counsel, while 
Germany utilizes every moment to fasten her grip upon Russia. 
Where is the foresight of the allied rulers? Where are their diplo- 
matists? Has all the initiative concerning Russia passed to Germany, 
and must the allies accept humbly whatever Germany decrees for 
Russia? In that case the war is lost eventually, whatever the result 
of the struggle in France. 

Men like former President Taft see clearly the absolute necessity 
of lifting Russia to her feet. It is not solely an altruistic task. It 
is primarily in self-defense that the western allies must save Russia. 
If they do not keep Germany out of Russia they will not be able 
to keep Germany out of France and England and America. The 
seeds of future conquest of the world are now being sown by Ger- 
many in Russia. The allies have the easier task, which is to frustrate 
Germany's attempts. If they will not take counsel and agree upon 
some plan to save Russia they need not boast of their unified com- 
mand in the west, for the war will be only beginning. 

There are several ways in which the allies can act immediately 
in behalf of Russia. The statesmen and soldiers of the allied nations 
should confer and agree upon the best plan. Germany's cunning 
men are not all on the fighting front, but are busy in Russia making 
war in a peculiarly effective manner. The allies' cunning men should 
be there thwarting the Germans and aiding Russia to organize a self- 
governing republic with an army capable of defeating Germany. 



250 ] 



Monday, June 10, 1918 
Preparing to Strike America 

THE audacity of the Americans in attacking and driving back 
an enemy force at Chateau Thierry, besides halting German 
progress elsewhere, and American persistence in sending troop 
and food ships across the ocean as though the submarines did not exist, 
have put the Germans in a towering rage. The hate that spurred 
them forward to commit atrocities against the English people will 
soon be manifested toward Americans if German diabolism can find 
a way to vent itself. If they cannot beat Americans in battle they 
will torture American prisoners and American civilians, if they think 
they can do so without bringing down a fivefold retribution from this 
country. 

The German military chiefs are preparing to hit the Americans 
a heavy blow. It may not be a stroke like that which was to shatter 
France and England in March and April, but it will test the quality 
of the Americans holding the line in northeastern France. German 
forces have been accumulating for several days for a thrust in the 
Woevre region, where the Americans are the chief force opposing 
them. 

There is considerable military advantage to be gained by a for- 
ward movement of the Germans in that section, if it can be accom- 
plished without too much cost. The Germans do not hold all of the 
Briey basin yet, and that is one of their main objectives. Long ago, 
as far back as 1890, it was pointed out by pan-Germanists that Ger- 
many would have to obtain control of the Briey and Longwy coal and 
iron regions if it expected to gain and maintain the upper hand against 
France. During this war the Germans have aimed consistently at 
the conquest of these fields, but Verdun has stood impregnably across 
their path and made futile all their local holdings. 

Perhaps the Germans calculate that a new route and method of 
attack may enable them to circumvent Verdun, while at the same 
time giving them an opportunity to stupefy the American nation by 
destroying its army in the field. This would be a stroke worth while, 
inasmuch as it would secure material gains and also exhilarate the 
German people, who are afraid of the steady flow of force from Amer- 
ica and skeptical of the assurances of the German leaders since they 
failed to sink American transports. When airships drop bombs upon 
south German towns the cry goes up, "The Americans! The Ameri- 

[251] 



PREPARING TO STRIKE AMERICA 

cans!" and the authorities find some difficulty in inventing new lies 
to keep the people reassured. 

It is true that the airships are not American-made or American- 
flown, but it is also true that an American airship fleet is coming 
into being, with American fliers already trained and ready to operate 
the fleet against Germany. Thus, thanks to the allied control of the 
sea, America will soon be able to bombard Germany while Germany 
will be unable to return the compliment. The German war chiefs, who 
know all this, are anxious to forestall such a situation by destroying 
the small American army, breaking up transport communications, 
terrorizing the American coast and otherwise nullifying American 
war efforts. 

We hope the German war chiefs will redouble their energies 
against the United States. They will do this country more good 
than harm by stirring it to exertions really commensurate with its 
capacity. What the United States has done thus far is good, very 
good, if compared with the accomplishments of Greece, Nicaragua 
and other belligerents, but it is very far below what the United States 
could have done and must do to win the war. The German sub- 
marine raids on this coast have done more good than harm, by caus- 
ing the establishment of a coastwise convoy service and a more rigid 
patrol of the coast, and by arousing the war spirit of the country. 

Germany is the terror of European nations because she is armed 
to the teeth and determined to fight to the death rather than forego 
her plans to dominate other nations and profit by their riches and 
their labor. The United States must give the knockout blow to this 
outlaw, but it cannot do it without putting on arms and going into 
the fight with the determination to kill. Its strength must be ma- 
terialized and put into action, and not be mere potential strength 
supported solely by oratory and lackadaisical neglect of opportunity. 
While the bulletheads muster their strength and murder their way 
to victory, Americans have been too much disposed to put their trust 
in braggadocio and fake airplane programs. Therefore, a direct 
thrust by the Germans, delivered squarely in the face of the United 
States, will do much to stir this nation into real efficiency. 



[252] 



Tuesday, June 11, 1918 

Fury and Failure 

THE fury of the attack now being made by the Germans against 
the French in the Montdidier region is said to excel anything 
yet seen in the war. The onslaught, however, is not on as great 
a scale as the offensives of March and April. Taking these two facts 
into consideration, together with the elements making up the situation 
in which Germany finds itself, and what is the reasonable inference 
to be drawn? 

It is absurd to presume that Germany is stronger now than she 
was on March 21, 1918, when, after months of careful preparation, 
after her men were all rested and reequipped, and after she had trans- 
ported from the Russian front a great army to reinforce the western 
front, she struck the blow at a place not revealed to the allies. In 
that blow, under personal command of the emperor, the German em- 
pire concentrated all the strength it possessed in men, material, esprit 
and the advantage of surprise against an antagonist who was not 
fully prepared, whose supreme command was not a unit, and who 
was not appreciably reinforced by Americans at the point of attack. 

The German emperor led his huge army to defeat and not to 
victory. They failed to break the French and British armies. At 
the end of eight days of superhuman effort they were still within the 
inexorable circle which civilization has forged around the barbarians 
and within which they are doomed to die. Another tremendous effort 
to break the chains was made in April, the blow being directed against 
the British in the hope of reaching the English Channel. It failed. 
Again the conspirators at the head of the German machine realized 
that they were trapped and beaten, and that their waning forces were 
now confronted with ever-increasing fresh troops from America. 

Finding that the Franco-British forces were centered on the lines 
lately under attack, the enemy shifted some of his storming troops 
and made a drive to the Marne on a narrow front, hoping to swing 
westward and sweep toward Paris. Although he made progress when 
his forces outnumbered the defenders by five to one, he struck a 
stone wall when French and American reinforcements came up, and 
the net result of the experiment was another heavy death roll of 
Germans. 

Now the desperate and frantic German emperor orders a fresh 
slaughter of his people by beginning an offensive where there is no 

[253] 



FURY AND FAILURE 

element of surprise, and where the reinforced allied armies are ready 
for the shock. The result of the encounter is more furious fighting 
than ever, as the German command presses its human material against 
the fiery point of contact. Yet the allies this time do not yield 
ground generously, as they have done heretofore. Why? Evidently 
because the very fury of the German onslaught against a prepared 
position means that a stout defense will collect a highly profitable 
toll of German blood. Gen. Foch is calculating the cost at all times, 
while his desperate antagonist cannot any longer stop to count the 
cost. If Foch finds that the allied losses are too severe he will yield 
ground, but if he finds that the proportion of German killed runs high 
enough to bleed the hostile army of its strength he will hold his 
forces where they are and keep his guns hot. 

Every stroke the Germans have made since March 21 has been 
weaker than the one preceding. This fact stands out and the Germans 
cannot conceal it. It gives the lie to German pretense and exposes 
the fatal inferiority of German military power in the full test of 
strength. If the history of the world was to be changed by German 
victory on the western front, as announced by the German emperor 
on the night of March 20 when he issued his order, why is it that 
Germany neglects to win the victory and in the meantime squanders 
350,000 to 600,000 men? 

The simple truth is that Germany has passed the peak of her 
military superiority and is on the decline. The allies are stronger 
than Germany, and grow stronger every day. They are not yet strong 
enough to take the German army and throw it bodily out of France, 
but they can and will shatter that army if the United States will con- 
tinue the dispatch of troops sufficient for the purpose. The world 
can breathe freely concerning the fundamental security of France 
and Great Britain. Those nations are firm-rooted in invincible 
strength against which the hordes of Germany beat in vain. The 
task now before the allied world is not to accumulate forces for 
defense, but for offense. The glorious attacks by the United States 
marines may become the turning point at which the allied armies 
ceased to be defenders only, and assumed their later character as 
irresistible avengers of humanity. 

A few more struggles, a few more months of effort by the united 
nations of civilization, a few more vigorous and confident rebounds 
from temporary setbacks and the enemy of mankind will be at the 
point of Liberty's blade. 



[254] 



Wednesday, June 12, 1918 
Great Opportunities Neglected 

WHILE the German armies are wearing themselves down to 
defeat in France in the insane attempt to destroy the French 
and British armies, it is incumbent upon the allies to be using 
their wits in devising means of expediting victory. Within a few 
weeks, as the war is going, the allies will have before them the duty of 
assuming the aggressive. The German armies will have been outfought; 
the German people will realize that their imperial chief highwayman 
has led them into a fatal trap; the horrors of famine and cold will 
assail the German nation, which will see that the plunder taken from 
small prostrate nations cannot be retained; the victim nations will 
begin to revive hopes of resuscitation; the oppressed peoples of Aus- 
tria-Hungary and Turkey will see the possibility of successful revolu- 
tion, and neutrals that have been inclined to back Germany will 
perceive that the German military system is doomed. 

What are the allied governments doing to promote these move- 
ments? What is the political policy of the allies? 

So far as allied influence upon events is ascertainable, there is 
no political policy uniting the allied nations. They are carrying on 
nobly in military and naval matters, but they seem to be neglecting 
the equally important field of political strategy. Nay, they are 
pursuing conflicting individual policies in many cases when they 
should have amalgamated their interests long ago in one compre- 
hensive political scheme. 

There is abundant opportunity for the exercise of national po- 
litical policies by each of the allies, while at the same time cooperat- 
ing in a general political policy toward the enemy and toward neutrals. 
The large and vital interests of the allies are identical, and they can 
be compressed into one word — survival. Until the survival of each 
of the allied nations is made sure beyond the power of any enemy to 
destroy it, the allies have no right to pursue individual policies work- 
ing to the detriment of the common cause. Nor have they any right 
to strike out independently for survival itself, if such action would 
be injurious to another ally. The allies cannot hope to fight and 
defeat Germany singly. They cannot expect Germany to spare any 
ally that may be tempted to pursue a policy contradictory to the 
best interests of all. Germany, instead of being grateful to an enemy 

[ 255 1 



GREAT OPPORTUNITIES NEGLECTED 

for any act of forbearance or courtesy, would merely take advantage 
of it to slaughter that nation sooner than otherwise. 

Russia must be helped. Why do the allies hesitate? They 
should allot small and tried detachments of troops to an interna- 
tional force to be sent into Siberia to serve as a rallying point for 
all loyal and sensible Russians. If the bolsheviki attack this force, 
let it kill off the bolsheviki. The bolsheviki are not the Russian 
people, but an ulcerous excrescence similar to the I. W. W. of America. 

Austria must be dismembered. Why do not the allies get busy? 
Are they afraid of Karl Hapsburg, the occupant of a bloody and 
usurping throne? That throne should have been knocked over and 
ground to dust centuries ago. It cannot stand against the hurricane 
that is sweeping the earth free of tyrants, usurpers and nation slayers. 
Down with it! It is a reproach to the free nations of the earth that 
they stand dumb while millions of liberty-loving people are trying to 
break the Hapsburg bonds. By fire and sword, by guile and artifice, 
by money and bomb, the free men of the world should tear to pieces 
the Hapsburg empire along with the Hohenzollern system that is 
trying to strangle the liberties of all men. 

This war does not end by the halting of the barbarians at the 
gates of Paris. It ends only when there are no organized barbarians 
armed with the weapons of science. There is no middle ground. 
Free men have their work cut out for them if they desire to remain 
free. They have the power to destroy their would-be destroyer. 
Up and at him, then! Not only by ancient methods sanctioned by 
treaties — treaties are no more — but by methods of extermination 
should the free nations destroy the robber nations. Propaganda is 
as destructive as bombs, yet the free nations do not use it. Political 
weapons are more powerful than armies, yet the allies do not even 
hold political conferences except as purely incidental and subordinate 
adjuncts of military operations. They leave to Germany the im- 
mense field of political warfare, where deadly weapons of incon- 
ceivable efficiency are wholly at Germany's command. Let the allies 
look at what Germany has done in Russia, absolutely without let or 
hindrance by any organized allied effort, and then blush for permit- 
ting the enemy to outwit and outmaneuver them. 

Where is the allied leader who will have the simple good sense to 
propose an immediate conference of the allies with a view to organ- 
izing united political action against the enemy? 



[256] 



Thursday, June 20, 1918 

Where the Allies Should Strike 

GERMANY has recently passed the zenith of her military power. 
' If the German army does not succeed in beating the allied 
forces within the next few weeks Germany may be expected to 
go on the defensive for a year or two while she is engaged in develop- 
ing a new army in Russia. She probably feels that if she cannot beat 
the allies, neither can they beat her. By presenting a solid front and 
maintaining a waiting attitude, Germany doubtless calculates that the 
allies and America cannot drive her back to the Rhine before she 
can raise an immense army of Russians. Then, with a fresh army of 
say, 10,000,000 men, with reserves of 20,000,000 to draw upon, Ger- 
many could resume the offensive with very good prospects of becom- 
ing mistress of the world. 

Who is preventing Germany from exploiting Russia? Who has 
stepped in and kept Germany out of Courland, Esthonia, Poland, 
Bessarabia, Ukrainia and Finland? No one. That territory is now 
German. The population is no longer Russian. The able-bodied men 
of those provinces are subject to service in the German army. They 
are now putting on the (German uniform and acquiring the goose 
step. Individually they may protest, but collectively they obey. 
When Germany needs more Russian territory she has but to show her 
teeth, snarl over Russia's crime in muddying the water downstream, 
and annex a few million square versts and a few million candidates 
for cannon fodder. The Germanizing of Russia, in short, is already 
in full swing. 

If Germany now is temporarily on the decline in man power 
while the allies, through America's help, are becoming stronger, it is 
evidently the right moment to strike for the purpose of disabling 
Germany and preventing her from raising a fresh army. Where shall 
the stroke be delivered? If in France and Flanders, it must be in- 
decisive, just as Germany's heaviest strokes have failed to break 
down the allies. It would require an enormous army, vastly greater 
than Americans have in mind, to defeat the German armies in France 
and Flanders. Before the allies can raise such an army Germany 
may have doubled her forces from the Russian reservoir. 

The enemy should be struck at his weak point, as well as where 
he is armor-plated and double-shotted. If Germany had chosen 
France as a field for defeatism and disintegration, and had tried to 

[257] 



WHERE THE ALLIES SHOULD STRIKE 

set up a French Lenine and a French Trotzky as traitors to deliver 
France over to destruction, there would have been a different story. 
Germany sought out the weak point in the allied armor, and found it 
in Russia. Then, by superlative cunning and energy, she broke down 
Russia and achieved a greater triumph than has ever been achieved 
by force of arms. The German victory in Russia has cost the lives 
of hundreds of thousands of Frenchmen, Britishers and Italians, and 
many Americans are doomed to die because of the absence of Russia 
from the battle line. 

Why not give Germany a dose of this terrible medicine by 
breaking down Austria? Germany is cunning, but she has no mo- 
nopoly of brains. The allies can command first-class intellect for 
the accomplishment of the disruption of Austria. The heavy artillery 
needed is intellect, with bullets as incidental aids. Austria is in 
worse condition than Russia was when Germany saw and acted upon 
her opportunity to bring about a marvelous change in the war. In- 
stead of confining her ambition to the Berlin-Bagdad scheme, Ger- 
many expanded it to include the Hamburg-Herat hegemony. Un- 
less she is disabled she will be actually in control of one-tenth of 
the earth's surface within a few months, with every prospect of 
extending these possessions. Germany's weak point is Austria and the 
two smaller satellites, Bulgaria and Turkey. The allies should strike 
at these and demolish them without compunction or delay. If the 
allies do not strike betimes they themselves will be compelled to fight 
Germany plus Russia — a prospect sufficient to appall the stoutest 
hearts on either side of the Atlantic. 

If Japan is willing to go into Russia to hold back the Germans, 
the allies should bid her godspeed. The Japanese "peril," if it should 
materialize, can be looked after when it comes. Let us have one 
peril at a time. The immediate peril is Germany. It would be su- 
premely foolish to forego the opportunity to deal a heavy blow at 
Germany for fear that Japan would not keep faith. Japan has kept 
faith. Germany has not. 

While Japan is doing her best to stem the German flood in the 
Far East the allies should strike hard at Austria, by every means in 
their power, but principally by revolutionary propaganda, aided by 
naval aggression in the Adriatic. The Italian, French and American 
fleets are free to operate there. They should be bombarding and 
destroying Pola, occupying Trieste and Fiume, and outflanking the 
Austrian forces on the Piave. 



258 



Friday, June 28, 1918 
What Kind of Peace for Germany? 

UNDER the spur of necessity the tremendous military organi- 
zation wielded by the German emperor is to be used in an- 
other effort to break down the allied armies and take Paris or 
the Channel ports. The days of preparation must be few, and since 
Austria's reverse the preparatory days have been reduced to hours. 
The political, economic and military conditions in the enemy empires 
imperatively demand victory or peace without delay. If peace can- 
not be carved out of the allies with a sword, Germany and Austria 
must get peace in some other way. Without peace they cannot hold 
what they have gained, and without holding what they have gained 
they cannot get victory. 

Foreign Secretary von Kuehlmann says there can be no decision 
by military force. If he means German military force he is un- 
doubtedly right, as manifested by Germany's failure to obtain this 
decision last March, when all circumstances united to favor her 
offensive. If he means allied military force he is wrong, because the 
allies have barely begun to mass their potential strength. The United 
States is the strongest power that is arrayed against Germany, and 
it has placed in France only 1,000,000 of its fighting men. It is 
foolish of Dr. von Kuehlmann to say that a decision cannot be reached 
by military force, in view of the overwhelming destructive forces 
that America is organizing against the enemy. 

Long before America has actually developed and applied all her 
strength, the enemy doubtless will have gained peace. The allies 
devoutly believe that Germany's peace will be the peace of defeat. 
They have accurate information concerning the interior conditions in 
Germany and Austria-Hungary, and the conditions in countries con- 
quered by Germany, and they know that unless Germany can hold 
occupied territory and make it produce food the war will have to 
come to an end by Germany's surrender. In order to hold occupied 
territory the German army must defeat the allied armies, constantly 
increasing in strength and daily becoming more menacing. How can 
Germany be strong in the field and weak in the bread basket? That 
is the insoluble problem that underlies Von Kuehlmann's admission 
that the war cannot be settled by military force. 

Pending the hour when Germany must compromise between 
famine and greed, the German army is strong and the necessity of 

[ 259 l 



WHAT KIND OF PEACE FOR GERMANY? 

victory such as to drive the emperor and his captains to test the fate- 
ful issue. They will strike for Paris and the Channel. If they fail 
they will have sacrificed a few hundred thousand Germans, the win- 
ter will be at hand, and some stratagem such as a mirage of spoils 
in Russia will have to be devised to delude the German people into 
continuing support of the war. If they win they will be able, they 
hope, to force France out of the war and possibly to cut off the 
American communications. Then they would have hopes of beating 
the British army and obtaining peace with victory. 

The allies are ready for the German attack. There is no fear 
that the Germans will reach either Paris or the Channel, no matter 
what sacrifices they may make. In the meantime, having made their 
lines impregnable, the allies are actively engaged in plans for making 
German schemes in Russia come to naught. Much more has been 
accomplished in the creation of a definite allied policy than has been 
made public. The United States is the leader in the plans to aid 
Russia. The President may see fit to give the public, and, of course, 
the enemy an inkling of what is to come, but if he should maintain 
silence it will not be the silence of doubt and inaction. 

If there were some evidences of allied propaganda in Austria- 
Hungary and activity by the allied fleets in the Adriatic, there would 
seem to be no further development of energy required to encompass 
the defeat of the Germans. While Russia is being propped up, the 
props should be knocked from under Austria. One effort supple- 
ments the other, and both may be necessary to settle the war. It is 
evident, at any rate, that the Hapsburg dynasty must follow the 
Hohenzollern dynasty to the rubbish heap if the nations of Europe 
are to be free and safe. Austria will be dismembered in any event 
when the German power is destroyed, but it ought to be apparent 
to the United States that Austria's dismemberment would be equiva- 
lent to amputating the left arm of Germany's power. Germany would 
be vastly easier to beat with the Hapsburg empire canceled and with 
anti-German kingdoms and republics arising in its place. The mo- 
ment Austria is dissolved, Germany's dream of absorbing Russia 
dissolves with it. 



[260 



Wednesday, July 3, 1918 

Nations Becoming Free 

IT IS fitting, on the anniversary of Konniggratz, when the Haps- 
burgs passed under the control of the Hohenzollerns, that France 
should recognize the independence of Bohemia, that portion of 
Austria which at this moment has well-organized military forces of 
its own fighting in Russia, France and Italy for the allied cause. 
The recognition of the independence of the Czechoslovak people was 
made this week by M. Pichon, minister of foreign affairs of France, 
as follows: 

"At the moment when the first unit of the Czechoslovak army in 
France prepares itself, after receiving its flag, to go to a sector on the 
front with its French brothers in arms, the French government con- 
siders it just and necessary to proclaim the rights of your nation to 
independence, and to recognize officially the national council as the 
supreme representative of the future Czechoslovak government." 

Fifty-two years ago today the corrupt house of Hapsburg was 
beaten in battle by the Prussians, acting under the political strategy 
of Bismarck. The actual cost to Germany of the acquisition of 
3,500,000 population resulting from the conquest of Austria, was only 
3,473 German soldiers killed. Four years later, with Bismarck still 
at the helm, Germany acquired Alsace and Lorraine at a cost of 
only 30,000 German soldiers killed. It was an easy and cheap process 
of expansion. All that was needed was brains to distinguish when 
and where to strike and when to be satisfied. The present German 
emperor dismissed Bismarck and started on a great plan of his own, 
which was to enable Germany to dominate the world at one fell 
swoop. Thus far Germany has squandered the lives of 2,500,000 
German soldiers and has not permanently conquered anything, not 
even Belgium. So the account stands as follows: 

Austria-Hungary 3,473 

France 30,000 

The world (task unfinished) 2,500,000 

It is little wonder that the high cost of conquest is crushing 
Germany and the Germans. If Bismarck could return and give 
Hohenzollern a few pointers on the advantages of moderation he 
might save the lives of a few million more Germans. 

It would be most inspiring to all lovers of liberty, bound and 
free, if President Wilson tomorrow, at the grave of Washington, should 

[261] 



NATIONS BECOMING FREE 

proclaim that the United States government recognizes that the people 
of Bohemia are and of right ought to be free and independent, and 
that the United States will do all in its power to aid them to throw 
off the Hapsburg yoke. That would be a guarantee of the establish- 
ment of self-government among nations that are now under the op- 
pression of autocracy. It would give the people of Russia encourage- 
ment. It would hearten the Poles, the Jugoslavs, the Roumanians, 
and the Armenians who groan under the German lash. Bohemia is 
entitled to this recognition at this time because of the thorough or- 
ganization of the provisional government and the fact that there is 
a Bohemian army and a Bohemian flag side by side with the allies. 

The decayed Hapsburg system would be struck a terrible blow 
by this American recognition of Bohemian independence. The Austro- 
Hungarian "government," which consists of a band of Teuton-Magyar 
conspirators, acting on orders from Berlin, would realize that when 
the United States Congress declared war on Austria and pledged the 
resources of this nation to victory it meant that there would be no 
compromise, no turning back while there was any subject race in the 
Hapsburg dominions. 

The Fourth of July would take on a more glorious meaning to- 
morrow if the spokesman of this republic should declare that this 
nation will not make peace while its sister nations are under the yoke. 
That is the real meaning of the declarations of war against Germany 
and Austria, but this meaning has not been clearly conveyed to the 
fainting souls that compose the oppressed nations of the boche em- 
pires. Since it is now perfectly evident that the war cannot end 
while the enemy holds nations in bondage, the sooner the allies rec- 
ognize the independence of oppressed nations and assist them to gain 
their freedom the sooner the war will end. 



1262] 



Wednesday, July 10, 1918 
The Struggle Over Russia 

IT IS not generally known that Count von Mirbach, the German 
Minister recently slain in Moscow, made a secret proposition to 

the middle-of-the-road Russians about May 20, offering in Ger- 
many's name to throw over the bolsheviki and revise the treaty of 
Brest-Litovsk more liberally for the Russians, if the Russians would 
agree to this separate peace and keep the allies at arm's length. Count 
von Mirbach promised the Russians that a German force would enter 
Moscow and Petrograd and drive the bolsheviki out within twenty- 
four hours from the signing of the protocol. 

The Russians who received this proposal from the German Min- 
ister rejected it instantly. Nevertheless, they did not question the 
intent of the German government to execute the proposal to the 
letter if it should be accepted. The proposal was not a mere piece 
of German duplicity, but was evidently in pursuance of Germany's 
solid conviction that the bolsheviki could not retain their hold upon 
Russian affairs, even with German support, Germany, being unable 
to overrun Russia with soldiers, must exercise diplomacy while the 
struggle is on along the western front. Russia is certain to coalesce 
the scattered elements of political union in some form. Even chaos 
evolves some limitations and works toward order. The Russian ne- 
cessities will compel the creation of some kind of government. It 
cannot be bolshevik government, since the cornerstone of bolshevism 
is discrimination which sets neighbors to slitting one another's throats 
and disputing all authority. Trotzky at this moment is engaged in 
the task of arming poor peasants so that they may rob the rich 
peasants. If this is not a sure method of avoiding success in govern- 
ment, none was ever invented. 

Since the Germans are practical and foresee the inevitable down- 
fall of bolshevism in Russia, it is quite reasonable to expect them to 
cast about for an element in Russia which will organize a govern- 
ment and make separate peace to suit Germany. No doubt this work 
is going on with great energy. Unless German intriguants and cor- 
ruptionists are busily at work among Russian political parties and 
leaders, the brains that engineered the wonderful disintegration of 
Russia have lost their cunning. 

It is to Germany's advantage to have a friendly government in 
Russia, not mere anarchy. There is no advantage to the enemy in 

[263] 



THE STRUGGLE OVER RUSSIA 

attempting to swallow Russia, at any rate not now. It is costly to 
support a weak government and dangerous to support a treacherous 
one. A German-made government in Russia, that is, an iron rule by 
German military governors, would be costly, ineffective and perilous, 
besides interfering with Germany's obvious plans in other parts of 
the world. Therefore the best plan for Germany to adopt is that 
which Count von Mirbach attempted to put into effect; a new com- 
pact with a strong element, to be set up in place of the bolsheviki. 

If that is Germany's aim in Russia, having in view of course 
the most speedy exploitation of Russian materials for German use, 
then the task of the allies is made somewhat clearer. Evidently it is 
not wise for the allies to deal with the bolsheviki, for they are im- 
portant now, and would surely be destroyed by Germany if they 
should last long enough to make a deal with the allies. The allies 
should lose no time in advising the Russian people that plans are on 
foot to aid them to recover possession of their own government in 
every root and branch. The Russians should be warned not to coun- 
tenance any bargain with the Germans through any political party or 
agency, under any guise, no matter how plausibly the advantages of 
separate peace with Germany may be set forth. They should be 
reminded that offers to revise the treaty of Brest-Litovsk are empty 
assurances of changes in a scrap of paper. Germany violated the 
treaty before the ink was dry. 

The resurrection of Russia is not the long and heart-breaking 
task it has been held out to be, if the allies will undertake it promptly 
and effect it according to well laid and workable plans. It is a strug- 
gle of wits more than of guns, although there will be blood-letting. 
Let the allies always work with and through the Russians, for the 
Russians, and they will win. The regeneration should begin in Si- 
beria, where the people are unaffected by bolshevism and are opposed 
to separate peace. With Siberia strong and organized, the redemption 
of Great Russia would follow in spite of German intrigue and German 
guns. 



264 ] 



Friday, July 12, 1918 
The Lesson of Pan-German Gains 

THOSE individuals who fondly count upon the collapse of Ger- 
many as the easy way out of the war should study the cir- 
cumstances surrounding the resignation of the German minis- 
ter of foreign affairs, Dr. von Kuehlmann, and the character of the 
man selected to succeed him. Von Kuehlmann's offense is that he 
said in his recent address to the reichstag, "We all know that victory 
cannot be reached by military means," or words to that effect. It 
does not matter that the address was approved by the kaiser before 
it was delivered; it is sufficient that the address ran contrary to the 
militarist pan-German element that controls Germany. Any one 
who suggests curtailment of German ambition to win victory over 
the world by brute force is so obnoxious that the pan-German party 
immediately sets about to encompass his downfall. 

The allied and neutral nations would not care what the pan- 
Germans thought or what they did to such men as Von Kuehlmann 
if there was no basis for pan-German hopes. The danger of the sit- 
uation lies where it did in 1914, in the incapacity of the civilized 
world to grasp the reality of pan-German plans and the ruthless 
determination of the militarists to carry them into effect, over the 
body of civilization itself. 

Men talk of diplomacy guiding Germany, and of the prospects 
of making peace by agreement with Germany. It is rubbish. The 
diplomats of Germany gain and remain in power only when they 
execute the will of the pan-Germans. German diplomacy consists 
of intrigue and treachery supplementing the work of the sword for 
the conquest of the world. If any German diplomatist should so 
far forget himself as to deal honestly with any allied nation he would 
surely lose his office and perhaps his life. The system which grips 
Germany has long ago eliminated any element of fair play or regard 
for world opinion. The system compels its adherents to outdo one 
another in naked devotion to ruthlessness. Thus the militarists be- 
come more and more savage in their warfare, and the diplomatists 
more and more tortuous and base in their utterances and negotia- 
tions. 

The pan-Germans unfortunately have much to support their 
case. They have actually enlarged the boundaries of the empire 
and increased its stores of raw materials. Mittel Europa at the be- 

r 265 1 



THE LESSON OF PAN-GERMAN GAINS 

ginning of the war was a dream which the pan-Germanists hoped 
to make a fact. It is now a fact which the allies must make a dream 
at any cost. If the allies had quickly grasped the reality of Ger- 
many's aims and Germany's readiness to abandon all the restraints 
of civilization, they would have been able to checkmate the movement 
before it had destroyed Serbia, Roumania and Russia. But now 
those ends have been accomplished, and it is for the allies to set 
them aside. The status quo favors pan-Germany. It is only by 
overturning what the pan-Germanists have done that the world will 
be where it was in 1914, to say nothing of the further task of liberat- 
ing oppressed peoples and adjusting national boundaries so that there 
shall be no further justification for war. 

What is the lesson that can be drawn from the pan-German gains 
up to date? Obviously, the first lesson is that the allies must dis- 
card the utterly baseless notion that Germany will make peace at 
heavy sacrifice. The next lesson is that the allies have aided Ger- 
many by permitting themselves to be deceived over and over again 
by plausible peace overtures. The allies have dealt with a Germany 
of their imagination which is entirely different from the real Ger- 
many. The third lesson is that the allies have always been divided 
in political council, while Germany's political and military policies 
have nearly always been harmonious and mutually helpful to the 
end in view. 

Many months have elapsed since it became evident that Russia 
would be Germanized unless assisted by the allies. Yet the allies have 
not been able to agree upon a political or military policy concerning 
Russia. If Germany had been as halting and undecided when the 
treaty of Brest-Litovsk was on the tapis, she would have lost the 
greatest victory of the war. But she acted with astonishing quick- 
ness in executing a sharply defined plan. The result was a bloodless 
conquest of one-seventh of the globe containing a population of 180,- 
000,000 individuals. From that hour the burden upon France, Great 
Britain and Italy has been well-nigh crushing, and only the opportune 
appearance of American strength has saved the world from Ger- 
man conquest. 

These incontestable facts imperatively warn the allies to get 
together and agree upon a political plan to be executed by political, 
military and naval power working in strict harmony. No national 
interest in any allied country should be made more important than 
the defeat of Germanv. 



266 



Sunday, July 14, 1918 
No Halt, No Truce, Nothing but Victory 

FRANCE, drawing fresh inspiration from this anniversary of 
her liberty, awaits with heroic soul the next assault of the 
enemy. That the assault is coming, and in tremendous force, 
is not to be doubted. Germany's situation is such that a failure to 
press the offensive this summer would mean a dangerous impair- 
ment of morale in the army and among the people, because of the 
enforced necessity of taking the defensive against forces made nu- 
merically superior by the large accessions from the United States. 
When the hour comes for Germany to fight desperately to hold ground 
against the illimitable "hordes" of Americans there will be plenty of 
work for the scientifically organized staff of morale stimulators and 
victory soothsayers of the empire. Up to this time these misleaders 
of German opinion have had falsehood as a faithful ally. Now they 
must meet the aggressions of truth. 

The delay in starting the German offensive has worked well for 
the allies by enabling American troops to be landed in large numbers. 
When the transports deliver 90,000 men a week, as is now the case, 
the allies may well breathe more freely as they go over the battle front 
and tighten up every loose place. It is probable that Germany still 
outnumbers the allies on the western front, but the disparity is not so 
great as to cause apprehension of such perilous crises as those which 
marked the offensives of March 21 and May 27. 

Every soldier's heart on the allied side is made stronger by the 
clearer knowledge that now prevails regarding the fundamental issue 
of the war and the necessity of fighting until decisive victory is 
achieved. When armies have the suspicion that political authority 
may nullify their efforts at any moment by suspending hostilities, 
the fighting is not apt to be to a finish. It is now universally recog- 
nized in allied armies that there will be no such fatal mistake as an 
agreement for an armistice. The fighting will go on to victory, and 
the enemy will be able to make peace only on the allies' terms. That 
is the meaning of every recent utterance by allied leaders, including 
the "no compromise" address by President Wilson, pronounced over 
the body of George Washington. 

Thus the allied armies, down to the last man, are inspired by the 
thought that they will be permitted to share in the war that is to strike 
off the shackles of men and nations. It is a glorious army, on a 

r 267 1 



NO HALT, NO TRUCE, NOTHING BUT VICTORY 

mission that ennobles human nature, and every soldier who helps to 
deal these mighty blows is to be envied, whatever may befall him. 
The flags of free nations, surrounding the unconquerable flag of France, 
are moving forward to the certain destruction of the power that 
assails them. They will not halt for parley or truce; they will not 
shrink from gas, shell, or airy rains of death ; they will not be content 
with the mere withdrawals of the enemy from the lands he has 
ravaged; they will pursue, beat down, disarm, and if necessary they 
will exterminate the enemy armies and the organization behind them. 

What is the driving force that confronts this immortal spirit of 
the allies? Is the German army animated by any ideal which induces 
men to leap into battle and drink glory from death? The strongest 
driving force behind the German legions is greed. The German people 
are convinced that by brute force under cunning direction they can 
rob neighboring nations of their lives and property. The success 
thus far achieved has had the effect of inflaming the greed that has 
become so conspicuous in the German character. The Germans have 
tasted the sweets of spoils. They have thrown away the old restraints 
which made them God-fearing, frugal, and law-abiding. They are 
covering their crimes now with heaps of booty, and are trying to still 
their conscience by showing how necessary for German safety it is to 
assassinate other nations. 

There is no permanence or finality in such a spirit. Contrasted 
with the spirit of liberty which animates the allied armies, the greed 
motive of Germany and the Germans is seen to be a bestial passion 
which will suddenly vanish in adversity. It is inherently false and 
cowardly. There is nothing in it with which to hold men to the ban- 
ners and give them joy in battle. 

Above all the temporary successes of the enemy, above the 
clouded counsels which sometimes prevent the allies from acting 
quickly and unitedly, above all the terrors and trials of nations made 
victims of German greed, looms the spirit of Liberty. That glorious 
figure hovers over the front of the allies, and with the patience of 
eternity she awaits the moment to drive home the fatal blade. 



[268 



Tuesday, July 16, 1918 
Just Beginning to Fight 

EVIDENTLY political reasons have dictated the route of the 
German offensive that began yesterday. The rapidly growing 
American army has required the German general staff to take 
some action which might be used to reassure the German army and 
people. Every American army officer has recognized the fact that 
while the army was getting into its stride it would be subject to an 
attack by an overwhelming force for the sake of the civic and military 
morale throughout pan-Germany. Thorough drubbing of the Ameri- 
cans, in German reasoning, would dishearten them while electrifying 
Germany and giving absolute proof that Germany is about to domi- 
nate the world. 

The line along the Marne is not heavily defended. The British 
masses are in Flanders, where they belong, and the bulk of the 
French armies is protecting Amiens and Compiegne. Gen. Foch has 
well disposed of his forces. He has a strong reserve which can be 
thrown in when needed. The place selected by the Germans gives 
them an opportunity to work toward Paris, to attack the main line 
railroad running via Chalons, and to outnumber the Americans and 
perhaps give them a beating. Whether these objects will be accom- 
plished remains to be seen. The first day's onslaught netted the 
Germans some gains, as must be expected when locally superior 
forces make a lunge forward with little or no regard for the cost. 

Let us presume that the Germans gain their objects — that they 
draw nearer Paris, cut the Chalons line, and defeat the Americans. 
What then? Are they nearer victory, or do their efforts mean nothing 
more than spouts of blood flowing from dying exertions? 

The settled confidence of France, England, Italy and the United 
States is something more than ignorant optimism. It is the deadly 
calm of nations which have determined their course of action and 
have staked their existence on their decision. Nothing is paramount 
to the duty of executing this decision. No expense, no effort, no 
expenditure of life, no extension of time or toil is counted against the 
supreme task of slaying the military monster that threatens them. 
There can be no victory for the Germans while France, England, Italy 
and the United States stand erect and armed. Every foot of advance 
by German forces must be retraced by the remnant of those forces, in 
blood and agony and death. That is the decision. 

[269] 



JUST BEGINNING TO FIGHT 

Can the free nations enforce their will? They are in process of 
doing so. The faint-hearted and the short-sighted may hear nothing 
but German guns and see nothing but German gains on the western 
front. The stout-hearted and the long-sighted hear and see more of 
the truth. The war is not solely the western front. It does not 
hinge upon a battle or even upon Paris. Thousands of factors affect 
the war, and so complicated and uncertain are these factors that no 
human brain can assemble and weigh them in a single survey. Discus- 
sion of them must be confined to generalities. It must suffice to 
suggest that the struggle should be considered as a whole, not by 
sections. If the Americans should rush into Germany and take a 
city there would be rejoicing, but no one in this country would be so 
foolish as to look for the downfall of the German empire as a conse- 
quence of that brilliant stroke. So the German advance determines 
little or nothing, and certainly not the outcome of the war. 

If it should develop that the Germans have overwhelmed the 
Americans in the Chateau Thierry region and killed large numbers 
of our men, the war will have begun anew instead of having moved 
toward victory for the enemy. America has just begun to fight. The 
nation will mourn the death of every lad who falls in this struggle, 
but the mourning will be for heroes who have fallen on the shining 
path of victory. The flag of Liberty will remain aloft, and the forges 
of Liberty will glare with fiercer fires. The great allies stand as 
guardians of humanity. They consider the end. They know they 
hold the sword of fate. 



270 ] 



Friday, July 19, 1918 

The Counterstroke 

THE story of the counterstroke delivered yesterday by Gen. Foch 
will be read with intense enthusiasm throughout the civilized 
world. The gallant French and American troops participating 
in the attack between Fontenoy and Belleau wood are envied by all 
soldiers under the allied flags, and are deserving of the highest 
honors that their governments can bestow. These forces have had 
the privilege of striking the first blow in what is confidently believed 
by many trained observers to be the opening phase of a new struggle 
in which Germany will be overmatched and pushed back on the 
retreat that must end in defeat and surrender. It is not assumed 
that Gen. Foch will begin a major offensive at this time, but his 
counterstroke is so powerful and the defensive of the Germans is so 
ineffective that vast alterations of the lines may occur soon. 

The part which the Americans played in the counterstroke inspires 
the people of this country with gratefulness and pride. They are 
grateful to the American lads for meeting their responsibilities, and 
proud of them for measuring up to the glorious traditions of this 
republic. The United States army is rapidly proving its right to 
share honors with the defenders of France, England and Italy. No 
greater compliment could be paid to the American boys than to class 
them with the heroes who have saved civilization. 

Germany's setback on this section of the western front, even if it 
should not mark a decisive turn of the tide of battle, is profoundly 
significant. It will be followed by other reverses as surely as ships 
cross the Atlantic. If this allied onslaught is not the historic turning 
point of Germany's attack upon the world, the next or the next will 
be. The summer's campaign as a whole is already outlined as the 
climax of Germany's supreme and unsuccessful effort and the allies' 
successful defense. When the ebbing of the German wave begins, its 
recession will become more and more rapid. It is not at all improb- 
able that the allies will finally gain a mastery which, combined with 
Germany's political troubles, will begin to roll back the enemy in a 
panic of disorganization and catastrophe. 

The advances made by Germany have been extremely difficult 
on account of the spirit encountered. The defenders, French or British 
or Italian, have been fighting for their own homes, their own com- 
munities, and their own liberties. When men thus stand at bay they 

[2711 



THE COUNTERSTROKE 

will fight like demons, whatever their race or nation; and when 
Frenchmen and Englishmen and Italians are at bay they show the 
world the most sublime examples of courage and sacrifice. This war's 
annals are full of marvelous deeds of valor. The civilized nations 
have found unsuspected reservoirs of the pure waters of heroism. 
Nothing is commoner in the allied countries than steadfast courage. 
The nature of young men seems to have been purified and exalted. 
From them the civilian population is receiving a daily lesson in unself- 
ishness that is transforming those countries. Thus the spirit of liberty 
ennobles mankind and makes nations rich in honor as well as free 
of limb and brain. 

But the besotted worshipers of brute force, slayers of liberty, 
have no recourse when disaster comes. There is no inner spirit to 
buoy them up and make them glad to lay down their lives for others. 
When their brute god is stricken they know not where to turn. Their 
hearts liquefy and their knees are loose on their hinges. The cohesion 
of force and plunder disappears, and every man seeks to save himself. 
Doubtless when the crack of doom reverberates over the German army 
the world will be astonished by the suddenness and completeness of 
its collapse into panic and flight. 

All honor to the commanders, captains, and gallant lads who 
storm the enemy lines! Their names will shine forever, whether they 
fall like meteors, like Georges Guynemer and Quentin Roosevelt, or 
unseen save by the eye of God, as many a lad has fallen and slept. 
The world rejoices in its defenders, those who are at the front and 
those who are going forward, straining their eyes for the first flash 
of battle. God bless them all! God grant to each of them a chance 
to strike the enemy at least one glorious blow ! 



272] 



Saturday, July 20, 1918 
The Enemy's Next Move 

THE fighting in the Soissons neighborhood grows fiercer as the 
enemy brings up reserves and the Franco-American force 
presses forward. No one can foresee the extent of the allied 
gains or the effect of the thrust upon the enemy. He may check the 
onrush ; he may be driven back to a point where the allies can destroy 
his communications; he may be compelled to withdraw from the 
Marne salient and give up all the ground he gained in May; or he 
may organize a counter attack and push the allies back somewhat, 
while holding his own in the struggle for Rheims. 

It does not matter where the allies pause, so far as territory is 
concerned. The recapture of villages means little, just as their loss 
meant little. The question is, are the Germans able to exert their 
will in France? Up to this week that question could not be positively 
answered in the negative. Within a few hours it may be that the 
whole world will see and understand that the question has been 
answered forever in the negative by the thunderous throats of the 
allied guns. 

This much is sure: Germany, relieved of the burden of fighting 
Russia, and assembling all its strength on the western front, has 
attempted five times since March 21 to smash the French or British 
military establishment, and has failed each time. Three attempts 
the French and British rebuffed with little or no aid from the Ameri- 
cans. The fourth attempt found Americans present in considerable 
numbers, and they aided in frustrating the attack. The fifth Ger- 
man onslaught was directed at the French and American forces, and 
it is the greatest failure of all. 

France and England held back the enemy in spite of the collapse 
of Russia. France, England and America are now pushing the enemy 
back. Thus the consequences of Russia's collapse have been met and 
mastered by the allies. Germany's chief hope is gone. If the enemy 
calculated that the collapse of Russia would more than offset Amer- 
ica's aid to the allies, he is now disillusioned. Russia is in process of 
recovery, while America grows stronger every hour on the battle front. 

Germany's check therefore seems to be effectual. If so, it is the 
immediate precursor of Germany's defeat, which ought to be accom- 
plished within another year if all the allies will intensify their efforts 
and carry the war forward with all possible vigor. 

[273] 



THE ENEMY'S NEXT MOVE 

Germany will know before any one else whether or not the tide 
has turned. As the armies waver on the crest of the struggle, Germany 
will surely make peace overtures, and as defeat becomes more certain 
these overtures will be more and more cunning and persistent. Ger- 
many, once convinced that the world cannot be beaten, will make 
frantic endeavors to save as much as possible from the wreck. Espe- 
cially will the German military conspiracy endeavor to dissuade the 
victors from pursuing the disarmament policy to the bitter end. In 
every allied country a propaganda will appear urging the people to 
remember that the Germans are human beings, after all; that it is 
best to let bygones be bygones for the sake of peace. No end of 
shrewd argument will be employed to persuade the pacific element to 
intercede in behalf of merciful treatment of Germany. This merciful 
treatment, when analyzed, will be found to consist of letting Ger- 
many off with much of her booty, and with murderous weapons in 
her hand. 

At that time all patriots in the allied countries must stand firm 
for the sake of humanity. There must never be another war against 
the world. The only way to prevent it is to make Germany forever 
incapable of organizing a machine like that which is now to be 
smashed. It is not for vindictiveness that the world must disarm 
Germany, nor for cupidity. It is for safety's sake alone. The war 
will be a failure if it is not fought to a finish and peace clinched by 
striking the bludgeon from the mailed fist. 

From this time forth, according to the measure of allied success, 
let the allies beware of poisoned peace moves by Germany, supported 
by propaganda in many countries. 



274 



Wednesday, July 24, 1918 

Meaning of Germany's Reverse 

THE reverse which the German armies have suffered at the hands 
of the French and American forces is such as to disarrange the 
plans of the German general staff. If the allied counterstroke 
should gain no more, it is sufficient to destroy all hopes by the Ger- 
mans for a victorious offensive this year. Under the cloak of conceal- 
ment and confusion enough is seen to make it probable that the Ger- 
man army cannot be reorganized and reinvigorated for another great 
offensive before next year, if at all. 

This extreme probability affords basis for the comforting convic- 
tion that the tide of war has turned definitely and permanently 
against Germany. If the enemy cannot win this summer, how can he 
win next year against an army fortified with an additional 1,000,000 
Americans? If 300,000 fighting Americans, added to the allied armies, 
can throw Germany back from the Marne, what will 1,000,000 fighting 
Americans do in cooperation with the French and British armies? 

The German army is beaten back at one point, and is not de- 
feated by any means. But there is more in this setback than a mere 
temporary check. The outstanding fact, never to be overlooked, is 
that the allies possess a growing army, while Germany's army has 
reached and passed the climax of its strength. If the allied armies 
were at a standstill, their repulse of the enemy at the Marne might 
be followed by quick recovery and a successful German advance; 
but with fresh thousands of troops pouring in from America, this 
enemy setback means that the allies will hold the ground they have 
recovered and will probably advance farther. 

Moreover, the German retreat has a psychological side which 
makes it supremely valuable to the allies and correspondingly costly 
to the German general staff. The people of Germany and Austria 
are at the breaking point of nerve exhaustion on account of family 
losses, lack of food, severe restriction of personal liberty, and poverty. 
These unseen but mighty foes are constantly hammering at the Ger- 
man heart. Against that disintegrating force the chief defense has 
been hope; hope for victory that would open up vast allied food sup- 
plies, immense spoils in territory, materials, slave labor, etc. The Ger- 
man war conspirators, headed by the junkers and the military caste, 
have dangled before German eyes the glories of a pan-Germany 

[275] 



MEANING OF GERMANY'S REVERSE 

triumphant over the richest nations, and granting to every German 
an opportunity to fatten at the expense of neighboring nations. 

Now this hope goes glimmering. It is baseless. It passes like a 
dream. The German lads who were to revel in Paris are ground into 
mud along the Marne, they are prisoners of the allies, or they are 
wearily retreating toward the Rhine. There is no allied food for 
German bellies. There are no riches of allied cities, to recompense 
Germans for their sacrifices. There is nothing ahead but fighting, 
against constantly increasing odds. Russia fails to furnish food, 
Roumania is stripped, Turkey has nothing, Serbia was skimmed clean 
long ago, Austria is empty, and all around are enemies with death 
in their hands. 

There are 154,000,000 inhabitants of Germany and its allies, and 
there are 1,200,000,000 inhabitants of the 20 nations that are fighting 
Germany. Thirty millions of inhabitants of Austria are raising their 
hands against the Hapsburg empire. The world is full of enemies of 
the German military machine. Wherever it goes it raises up opposi- 
tion and enemies, as in Ukrainia and Russia, where the "peace 
treaties" which were to yield rich food supplies have turned out to be 
empty scraps of paper. 

So the allied victory means much in Germany. It will make 
itself known, in spite of the desperate efforts of the war class to con- 
ceal the truth. Germany may be depended upon to begin peace moves 
anew, under all sorts of disguises. The danger in allied countries 
from now on is not that victory will be lacking, but that pacifists will 
make victory futile by pressing for an inconclusive or soft-hearted 
peace which would leave Germany armed and capable of recuperat- 
ing for another assault. That possibility must be extinguished. The 
allies must fight for and win a victory which in itself will make a 
German military recovery forever impossible. The only peace to 
which Germany is entitled is that which is made compulsory. No 
nation which values its life can take any German assurance or 
enter into any treaty with Germany while that outlaw is armed. 



[276] 



Sunday, July 28, 1918 
The War's Anniversary 

FOUR years ago today the two murderous heads of the houses of 
Hohenzollern and Hapsburg gave the word which they fondly 
hoped would mean the annihilation of Serbian independence 
and the extension of the German empire to take in all middle Europe, 
from the North Sea to the Persian Gulf. Franz Josef was in his dotage 
and completely in the power of William II. Austria-Hungary was, in 
fact, only a dynasty, an army, and a corrupt system of politics domi- 
nated and directed by Berlin. For twenty-five years William had 
plotted for the day when he might gratify his towering and half-insane 
egotism and at the same time expand Germany at the expense of 
neighboring nations. He thought the opportune hour had arrived 
when the Kiel Canal was completed and the assassination of the 
Austrian crown prince gave Austria a chance to simulate just and 
avenging anger. 

What an appalling roll of calamities and horrors followed the 

fatal decision of these crowned assassins! What an inextricable coil 

of misfortune and disaster surrounds the master conspirator as he 
moves to his doom! 

The war was to end within a few days. A few hurried strokes 
were to dispatch the principal victim. If Russia should interfere, a 
few weeks at most were to be sufficient to disable and humble her. The 
German murder machine was vastly more powerful and efficient than 
the unsuspecting world could know. All possible contingencies, it was 
thought, had been foreseen and provided against. If France should 
not remain neutral under threats, then France was to be attacked and 
slaughtered. These strokes were to terrorize the world and keep such 
possible enemies as Great Britain and the United States at a safe 
distance. 

The fifth year of the war begins today, and the German war lord 
is further from victory than he was on July 28, 1914. He has seen 
millions of his people slain, starved, maimed, and captured. He has 
seen his empire's commerce and industry paralyzed, his house and 
his people abhorred throughout the world, and nation after nation 
rising in wrath, determined to exterminate the system he personifies. 

Serbia was crushed, it is true, but not until Austria had been 
beaten back by the gallant little nation, which only succumbed when 

[277] 



THE WAR'S ANNIVERSARY 

the Austrians were reinforced by Germans and the blackhearted Bul- 
gars who drove a knife in Serbia's back while they had an oath of 
friendship upon their lips. But the program of easy nation-slaying 
miscarried. Russia was not intimidated and not beaten. Paris was 
not taken in a week or a month or a year. The weeks and months 
dragged on, and the German emperor gained nothing substantial 
except new enemies. He became more desperate as horrors accumu- 
lated and his empire's fate became more and more involved. Finally' 
he dared to strike fairly and squarely in the face of the United States 
of America, which was a nation that he knew to be peace-loving and 
peace-abiding, and absolutely void of offense toward him or his 
empire. When he forced the United States into the ranks of his 
enemies he set the seal of extinction upon his military system and 
invited the annihilation of his empire and dynasty. 

The mills of God grind slowly and exceeding small. The tortured 
world deems it many years since peace reigned, and every day of 
war is another turn of the screw that racks humanity. But the end 
is worth the agony, for the end is and must be the extermination 
of man's oppression of man. When the war ends there will be no 
Hohenzollern holding millions of human cattle in terror of slaughter. 
There will be no emperor or king who dares to assert that he holds 
power by divine right or by any other right except the consent of the 
people. The nations that have been held in bondage by the corrupt 
emperors of Austria-Hungary will be set free and aided to establish 
their own governments. Belgium will be rescued from the paws of 
the beast that has denied her beautiful house. Serbians will go back 
to their home with joy and thanksgiving. Poland will rise from her 
sorrows and shine once more among the nations. 

It is not as a bountiful uncle that the United States has deter- 
mined to fight till these changes are made certain. It is because these 
changes must be made if liberty is to abide in the United States or 
anywhere else in the world. It is for liberty itself, not liberty in 
places, that America has drawn the sword of destruction. 

The years of the war will not be many, if the prospects of the 
beginning of the fifth year are not misleading. The enemy grows 
faint with hunger and lack of blood. The allies wax stronger with 
abundance of food and abundance of men. The enemy war experts 
have met war experts who outmatch them. Patience for a while, and 
there will be a peace that no Hohenzollern will ever disturb! 



[278] 



Tuesday, August 6, 1918 
The Scales of Brute Strength 

GLORIOUS deeds have been accomplished by the valor of Ameri- 
• can lads in man-to-man conflicts with the finest troops in 
Europe. The progress of the French, British and American 
troops in their counter offensive is amazing to both friends and ene- 
mies. The flower of German soldiery have been hurled back in dis- 
order or dispatched on the spot. Nothing that technical skill, long 
experience, or unquestioned bravery could bring forth was sufficient 
to enable the German army to stand against the onslaught of the 
allied troops. 

The world will never forget the achievements of the last three 
weeks. A second Marne attack, even more threatening than the first, 
has been changed into a decisive defeat which may have tremendous 
consequences as its full adverse influence is developed in enemy 
countries. The Germans have not only been proved to be inferior 
to an equal number of allied troops, but their defeat sounds through- 
out their empires, like the trumpet of doom, announcing the approach 
of the victorious powers. 

The measure of Germany's military strength has been taken. It 
is inferior to the strength that has been amassed by the civilized 
powers. That is the proved fact of the last three weeks. 

But this fact does not permit any one in allied nations to pre- 
sume upon victory soon, or without tremendous exertions. If mere 
superiority in brute strength meant victory, Germany could have 
defeated the allies in 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1918. Why has not 
Germany beaten the allies, when she was stronger? Evidently there 
is some other factor that is as important as brute strength. 

That factor is will power. So long as Germany wills to fight it 
will require all the strength, all the perseverance, and all the intelli- 
gence of all the allies to defeat her. All of Germany's strength, per- 
severance and intelligence have not achieved victory for her. Now 
the allies must excel Germany's record. 

Misfortune in battle is a wonderful solvent. It disintegrates the 
will and softens the steel in armies. Sometimes it unlocks the doors 
of a nation and invites the victor to come in and take the spoils. But 
misfortune does not always destroy the spirit. Witness France! Wit- 
ness Serbia, Belgium, Roumania and Italy! We conscientiously be- 

[279 1 



THE SCALES OF BRUTE STRENGTH 

lieve that the German people will not exhibit this indomitable spirit 
in misfortune, for the reason that they are not sustained by the sense 
of right and justice and inspired by the knowledge that they are fight- 
ing for liberty. 

There is nothing yet developed, however, to establish this belief 
as a fact. The Germans have sustained their emperor thus far. The 
people of Germany unquestionably are substantially a unit in opinion 
and action. They have been long-suffering, devoted and brave. The 
qualities that compel admiration have been exhibited by the German 
people in support of an abominable and hellish cause. Will the Ger- 
mans now lose heart as their cause fails to make headway? Will 
their devotion cease when they see their armies fall back upon Ger- 
man soil, fighting a hopeless fight against the world in arms? 

The stupendous drama discloses one scene after another, accu- 
mulating the events upon which the inevitable catastrophe must be 
based. From the moment the drama began, the world was stupefied 
by the magnitude and mystery of the acts. There are no precedents 
for this war, no standards by which it may be measured, no land- 
marks which cannot be passed or obliterated, and no certainty that 
any institution established by man will remain untouched. Unheard- 
of traits of nations and peoples have been revealed. The most amaz- 
ing of all was the revelation that the German nation was in fact a 
materialist nation, relying upon machinery and men trained as ma- 
chines to stamp the life out of neighboring peoples as effectively and 
as remorselessly as a chariot wheel destroys an ant village. 

Up to this hour the German people have given no indication that 
they are not absolutely devoted to the religion of force and rapine. 
They are apparently devout worshipers of their god and seemingly 
they will not turn away from him. Nevertheless, the civilized world 
believes that the Germans are obsessed and will recover their senses 
under the hammer-strokes of defeat and death. If they do not gain 
wisdom by adversity, if their will is not shaken, then the god of their 
idolatry must be smashed to bits in the midst of them, by the aveng- 
ing spirit of liberty. 



[280] 



Thursday, August 8, 1918 
The Allies Must Dictate Peace 

BEFORE the echo of the allies' victorious guns has died away 
along the Marne there is heard an insistent note, demanding 
that the allied powers shall not "crush Germany." The demand 
comes from Germany in the form of propaganda, and from allied 
countries it issues from that assortment of pacifists, sentimentalists, 
traitors, defeatists, and nondescript scoundrels who have done so 
much to cripple the arm of efficiency. Doubtless, as Germany's in- 
evitable defeat becomes more apparent, a propaganda for peace will 
be conducted on a scale far more extensive and with a cunning far 
more subtle than anything that has yet come out of Germany. The 
enemy will strain every nerve to snatch by peace what he is unable 
to grasp by war. 

For this reason, as well as because of the serious conditions in 
all countries which demand an end of war, it is most welcome news 
that the United States government intends to increase its available 
man power to hasten complete victory. 

By expanding their will power and their resources and by thor- 
oughly sympathetic teamwork, the allies can save a year of warfare. 
That is an economy worth striving for. It is good strategy as well 
as thrift, for no one can foretell what might happen if the war 
should drag along. 

The juncture of events points clearly to the advantages of ener- 
getic prosecution of the war against Germany. Time was never 
more propitious to the allies. If promptly seized, the opportunities 
now at hand promise to give the allies an overwhelming victory, the 
only kind that is safe for the world. But there must be no paralysis 
of effort resulting from disputes as to the kind of victory to be 
achieved, or from negotiations as to the conditions under which Ger- 
many will be so good as to surrender. 

The bolsheviki of Russia have been shown to be enemies of 
the allies. War is developing between the allies and these German 
agents. This war cannot develop too soon or be too vigorously pros- 
ecuted to suit the ends of justice and liberty. The allies need not 
hesitate to strike the bolsheviki wherever found. Every stroke is 
for themselves, for Russian liberty and for an everlasting end of 
German aggressions. As soon as this fight develops the allies will be 

[281] 



THE ALLIES MUST DICTATE PEACE 

aided by patriotic Russians, who in due time will take over entirely 
the task of defending their country and establishing a stable and 
free government. 

While the allies are shooting defeat into Germany on the western 
and Russian fronts, they should also be busy tearing to pieces the 
quadruple alliance upon which German ambitions have been based. 
This alliance is now a rotten rope which can be broken. The Haps- 
burg empire is famished and bankrupt, and the morale of its army 
is low. A strong offensive from Italy, backed by the allies, would 
do much to hasten the end of the war. The break-up of the Haps- 
burg empire will be hastened by every setback to German or Austrian 
arms. The revolutionary elements in Austria are anxiously awaiting 
the moment when they can rise and begin internal war with some 
degree of success. 

Bulgaria is playing a double game, as usual. Her agents are 
now making perfidious advances to the allies in Switzerland and else- 
where. If the allies were foolish enough again to take anything 
Bulgarian as bona fide, and should hold out any inducements to that 
nation to draw it away from Germany, the tricksters would instantly 
report the matter to Germany. It is not antagonism to Germany that 
inspires Bulgaria. It is the instinct of the rat seeking safety. Bul- 
garia's actions, to those who are familiar with its treacherous policy, 
are the best of evidence that the quadruple alliance is falling to 
pieces. 

The prime consideration now is energy in the field and firmness 
in policy. "Unconditional surrender" are the words that should be 
inscribed on every bullet and bomb that goes to Germany. The world 
will be defeated if it suspends hostilities to discuss Germany's ideas 
of a proper peace. There will be no secure freedom of nations if the 
allies do not impose their will on Germany. They must dictate the 
terms of peace, and Germany must accept what they dictate. If 
Germany should be treated with the magnanimity that is due to a 
chivalrous enemy, the savages in control of that empire would twist 
the concession into a dagger with which to stab their benefactors. 



2S2 ] 



Monday, August 12, 1918 

Unity of Command 

THE marvelous success of the allied armies gives abundant ma- 
terial to each nation for satisfaction and pride in the conduct 
of its officers and men. Each nation can celebrate glorious vic- 
tories without infringing upon the right of others to celebrate equally 
great events. It might be contended by each that if its army had not 
been on hand the allied victories could not have been achieved. But 
there is one factor of allied success, without any invidiousness in it, 
which each nation must concede. That is the factor of unity of com- 
mand. 

Each army has done its best, and has earned the gratitude of 
the world; but all combined have won the victory which they could 
not have won singly. As the United States is strong because of 
the union of individual States, so the allies have been strong since 
they achieved the unity of supreme command. The many forces 
are now one army. Hence the cogency of the American motto, "E 
pluribus unum." 

For three years the necessity of unity of command was im* 
pressed upon the allied governments by expert observers and by 
events in the field. The contrast between German executive control and 
allied lack of control was not only painful to observe but costly in 
practice. Allied lack of unified command lost many an opportunity 
if not many a battle. German concentration of command enabled 
the kaiser to swing as one unit the massed forces of Germany, Austria- 
Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, at any time or place. The German 
great general staff not only seized every advantage as campaigns de- 
veloped, but they invariably retrieved their own errors before the 
allies could pounce upon them. While the allies were trying to agree 
upon action, Germany acted, and her allies did not presume to in- 
terfere before or after action. 

It was only after the existence of the British empire was in 
dire peril, early this year, that Premier Lloyd George was able to 
overcome British opposition to the appointment of Gen. Foch as 
supreme commander of the allied armies. This opposition seemed 
to have its center in the chief of the British imperial general staff, 
Gen. Robertson, who finally resigned rather than cooperate with the 
new plan. He was supported by strong and able men, like Gen. 
Maurice and Col. Repington, who held out to the very last against 

[2831 



UNITY OF COMMAND 

French commandership, although these men knew very well that it 
was absurd to expect England to furnish the skilled staff capable of 
matching brains with the German general staff. They insisted upon 
autonomous and separate army commands, with separate general 
staffs, which of course failed to grasp the allied problems as a whole. 

From the moment that Gen. Foch was able to maneuver all the 
allied forces, without regard to their nationality, there has been as- 
surance of victory. The allied armies, if under one command, might 
have beaten Germany in 1916, before the German forces in the east 
had been shifted. At this time, if the allied armies were not under 
one command, they would not be winning victories, but would prob- 
ably be conducting defensive operations and losing ground. The 
German armies would now be bombarding Paris. This does not 
mean that Marshal Foch is indispensable, but it does mean that 
unified command is indispensable. The armies are all indispensable, 
yet the mysterious thing called victory was not with them until they 
acted as one army, under the orders of one intellect. 

The problem of union in political action is far more complex 
than unity of military command. It is extremely difficult to delegate 
political decisions to individuals who are dealing with representatives 
of other nations. The consequences of political decisions are so mo- 
mentous that the governments must retain their freedom of choice 
to a great extent. Therefore the best they can hope to accomplish in 
the way of unity of political action is close and sympathetic exchange 
of views, and to agree upon fundamental principles which may serve 
as a common guide in matters of policy. 



[284 



Sunday, August 18, 1918 
Both Peace and Liberty 

IT IS now midsummer. Germany has struck with full force at the 
allies and failed to defeat them. They have recoiled and driven 
the enemy back. The American forces in France now number 
1,450,000 men. The first squadron of eighteen American-made and 
American-driven war planes has passed over the German armies. 
American soldiers are going to France at the rate of about 300,000 
a month. Allied forces have landed at Vladivostok and the British 
contingent is already joyfully at work fighting the Germans and 
Austrians at Ussuri, north of Vladivostok. The Czecho-Slovaks have 
taken Irkutsk. The British have taken Baku. The bolsheviki are 
fleeing southward from Archangel. Japanese forces, which will reach 
any dimensions necessary to execute their task, are soon to move 
into Siberia and stiffen the Czecho-Slovaks in their struggles with 
the Germans and Austrians. All is well on the Albanian and Mace- 
donian front, as well as in Mesopotamia, Palestine and Armenia. 
Italy stands ready to administer another defeat to Austria. 

That is the situation from the point of view of the allies. How 
the two emperors of the enemy empires may view the situation 
depends upon their information. They may have plans which en- 
courage them to believe that the paths of victory are not all barred. 
It is probable, however, that Hohenzollern, at least, is not deceived. 
He is a cold calculator, as mass murderers must be. If he were not 
an obsessed egotist he would apply his calculations to the actual 
situation with dangerous accuracy. The world owes its escape, in 
large measure, to his distortion of facts because of excessive self- 
love and absurd self-confidence. 

Now that an enraged and armed world is administering buffet- 
ings to his self-esteem, Hohenzollern is subjected to a severe psy- 
chological stress which may develop violent reactions. He may 
suddenly acquire a clear vision, and with his admittedly able advisers 
he may adopt measures of remarkable shrewdness in extricating 
himself from the many pitfalls that are opening around him. Or he 
may be another example of the truth of the saying that "whom the 
gods would destroy they first make mad," by becoming more of an 
insane egotist than ever, ending in stark fits of slaughter mania that 
will sacrifice friend and foe alike and send him into the grave with 
his own blood on his knife. 

[285] 



BOTH PEACE AND LIBERTY 



Above all the stupendous and cloudy panorama that rolls before 
the world's eye are Russia and America, mighty landmarks and towers 
of strength. Neither of these mountains can be budged. They stand, 
at either side of Germany, and in the appointed time they will impose 
their crushing weight upon her. What of the fact that Russia shows 
volcanic activity? A volcano is more dangerous to its neighbors 
than to itself. Probably Hohenzollern would prefer any other nation 
in the world for an eastern neighbor rather than Russia, now that 
he perceives that he cannot control it. Russia has been the nightmare 
of Prussia for centuries, and the reckoning will never be square until 
Russia has brought Prussia to terms. As the allies send into Russia 
the alloy that stiffens and hardens the national spirit, Germany 
knows that the heartbreaking task of rolling the Russians back must 
be resumed again or some kind of peace arranged which will suffer 
Russia to have her own. There is no rainbow in the eastern skies 
for Germany. 

To the westward, across the Atlantic, the storm of war grows 
blacker every day. What shall be thought of the nation that was so 
slow to wrath and so deaf to the whisper of a peace by purchase? 
Where is the end of America's preparations? Does America expect to 
fight forever, that she assembles millions of men, billions of dollars, 
thousands of ships, tens of thousands of airplanes and endless miles 
of materials? Then where is the goal for which America is striving 
— what is it but the death-knell of Hohenzollernism and Hapsburgism? 
The two emperors see this fact clearly, if they see no other. The 
irrepressible conflict between freedom and slavery is on again, and 
they are on the wrong side. They must either kill America or go 
under. 

The approaching end casts its shadow upon Hohenzollern and 
Hapsburg. They may adopt any measures they like — the free world 
and the world about to become free will not be bound by what these 
imperial plotters may do. Peace may be postponed for a while by 
these doomed men if they see fit to bite the dust rather than hand 
over their swords, but in the end there will be both peace and liberty. 



286 



Thursday, August 22, 1918 

America's Part 

IF GERMANY is not beaten with the greatest possible dispatch and 
the least possible loss of life it will not be due to German cun- 
ning but to American blundering. The cards of fate are falling 
against the enemy; all his moves are beginning to be mistakes; the 
advantages are shifting over to the side of the allies; the enemy's 
weapons are becoming blunted and useless, while the allies' weapons 
are becoming keener and more deadly. If America will but meet 
these marvelous days with the ancient spirit of America, victory will 
swiftly come, and liberty will forever stay. 

The danger is not in lack of means; it is in lack of understand- 
ing of the scope of America's duty. What must be done can easily 
be done, but it must be done adequately to be done at all. The power 
of the United States is sufficient to defeat the enemy promptly and 
decisively. But what is America's power if it is left lying buried in 
the hills or ungathered and undisciplined in millions of scattered 
brains and arms? 

Millions of men must be selected, trained, armed and sent to 
destroy the enemy. The equipment for these men must be dug out 
of the ground and prepared in factories. The duty is here, it is 
imperative, and the sooner it is performed the easier will be the 
task. There should not be a day's debate on the bill to extend the 
draft age limits so as to make all men between 18 and 45 subject 
to examination with a view to military service. The man power of 
the United States is the indispensable weapon of victory. Humanity 
depends upon this weapon for its liberty. The fate of the world 
will be decided by these men. It is folly to hesitate for a moment in 
calling them to duty. 

The material necessary to equip the great army that is to come 
must be manufactured by Americans. Their task is as honorable 
as that of the boys at the front. They are, in fact, comrades of the 
soldiers, all composing the greater army of the nation. The workers 
must work as faithfully and heroically as the fighters fight. They 
are doing so now, from Maine to California. The sum total of energy 
now applied to war preparation in the United States is one of the 
marvels of the new age. It will be still greater — it must be greater 
as the full development of America's war power is reached. 

[287] 



AMERICA B 

Those .Americans who cling to old notions should rub their e 
dust off their nd look at the world as :: is 1 

morrow. The world of 1914 is got: 

It will never come back. The United States 

- . d it went 1 . :. The spirit 

its manhood is differed" The women have different ideas and 

ideals. The children b gjht a different spir:: II is the new 

will nc: - ^ to the old falsehoods, the old trivialities 

and the old wrongs. From China to 1 • : i from the South 

- - f o Archangel, the old idols are broken and the shackles are falling 

Mankind is becoming free. The nations mot 

- without freeing the others. The mandate of the Almighty has 
gone forth, and man's spirit index : artillery and 

sees it in the iron fields. The proud- 

... s4 glorious part to be played by .ion in the world's 

histor -ignedto I United States its redom 

and strength. Th ill be administered by this m 

The enemy will fall before *. Stars Stripes The heart of 

evil will be pierced by the s . Liberty - borne for 

the protection of the United Stai 

It - s inn. splendid, glorious du: efore the Ur. 

States Let it be performed with sp- enging si 

be delivered with lightnii_ swiftness and hiring force! Let 

. b the altar fires of liberty, and pray 

be enlarged to see the m : Ms nation's 

- 






Friday, August 23, 1918 
Enemy Peace Overtures 

THE prediction that the German government would begin a 
peace offensive following the setback to German arms is veri- 
fied by the outgivings of Dr. Solf, German secretary of state 
for the colonies. Dr. Solf tries to take the place of Dernburg, Kuehl- 
mann and others who thought they could mislead the public opinion 
of allied countries by sophistries. 

The usual falsehoods are uttered by Dr. Solf concerning Ger- 
many's role in Russia. He tries to make it appear that Germany 
generously undertakes to look after the border peoples while they are 
in the twilight zone between the darkness of Russian ignorance and 
splendor of German kultur. The inference he tries to convey is that 
Germany will turn these people loose when they are sufficiently en- 
lightened. He carefully refrains from making any promises — not 
that his promises are worth anything more than the notorious promises 
of the German government — but evidently because he is anxious to 
avoid embarrassment later, when his promises might come home to 
roost. 

The most important part of Dr. Solf's remarks is that which 
attempts to incite the ''independent" and "international" labor ele- 
ment of Europe to demand peace by negotiation. Recently the 
deluded socialists of England again demanded an international con- 
ference, and apparently the German leaders think they see an op- 
portunity to divide allied opinion on this subject. 

The gist of Dr. Solf's argument is that the time must come 
when peoples will be so sick of war that they will turn away from 
all war doctrines and try to find a basis for restoration of confidence; 
that confidence will germinate and result in a demand for peace, 
in spite of the vindictive policy of governments. The German propa- 
gandist then suggests that Mr. Balfour, Britain's foreign secretary, 
fears such a reaction toward peace, and therefore attacks not merely 
the German government, but the German people. Thereupon, Dr. 
Solf winds up his argument by saying, "Our enemies do not want 
peace by negotiation." 

In that remark he is right, although the manner in which he 
states it would make it appear that the allies were deaf to the call 
of the world for honorable peace and were bent upon the destruction 
of Germany through sheer blood lust. It is perfectly true that the allies 

[289] 



ENEMY PEACE OVERTURES 

do not want peace by negotiation. The reason for this is that there 
is no honorable opponent with whom to negotiate. A peace treaty 
with a rattlesnake would not be worth while, and peace by negotiation 
with armed Germany is just as dangerous and just as foolish. 

This fact is so patent, and has been made so terribly clear by 
the shed blood of tens of thousands of allied victims, military and 
civil, that no one in the world should be misled by German peace 
propaganda urging "peace by negotiation." Yet there are in all 
the allied countries elements which persist in the hallucination that 
somehow they may be able to patch up a lasting peace by negotiating 
with Germany. These elements are largely socialistic, and usually 
they are colored with bolshevism — that is, a half-baked "interna- 
tionalism" which pretends that there is a world community of spirits 
too high and too fine to be bound down by the usual obligations 
of nationality. Nikolai Lenine, the Russian traitor, is the ideal 
internationalist, and his attempt to put internationalism into effect 
gave Germany an easy victory over Russia. Now the Germans would 
like nothing better than to see bolshevism spread through all allied 
countries, so that frenzied Lenines would rise up everywhere and 
demand "peace by negotiation." 

Fortunately fools and traitors are in the minority. Germany 
made many foolish men wise when she grasped Russia by the throat 
at Brest-Litovsk. In the hour of victory over Russia Germany dis- 
closed the frantic lust for booty and power which drove her into this 
war. The itching palm could barely refrain from clutching Russia's 
wealth before the fraudulent treaty was signed. When that infamous 
document wa^ finally signed, Germany proceeded to violate every 
article of it with a rapacity and cynicism that amazed the world. It 
is not too much to say that the renewed vigor and determination of 
every allied nation dated from the hour when Germany proved that 
the treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a mockery. 

The wise course for individual Americans to pursue is to strike 
down every man who talks bolshevism and "peace by negotiation." 
Such men are either incurable meddlers or German knaves. They 
are pernicious busybodies, and they retard the victory that America 
is giving its blood to gain. They would make the heroism of American 
boys vain and frivolous. They would make every grave in France 
a gloating place for Germany. They are enemies of liberty, dastardly 
traitors to the flag, and richly deserve any punishment that the 
outraged republic metes out to them. If their numbers should grow 
and their activity become more dangerous, there will unquestionably 
be a demand that the penalty of death be imposed upon them. 

[290] 



Tuesday, August 27, 1918 
No Peace Without Victory 

ON THE field of battle the allied armies have taken Germany's 
measure and have thrust back the finest troops of the outlaw 
empire. There is no longer any question of the ability of the 
allies to hold the enemy armies. There is no possibility now of 
Germany compelling the allies by force to accept her peace terms. 
So far as the enemy is concerned, the hope of a decision on the field 
of battle is dispelled. 

Having reached this point, it is now incumbent upon the allied 
armies to compel Germany to sue for peace at the point of the 
sword. 

That cannot be accomplished for many months. The allied armies 
must be much stronger than they are at present before a military 
decision can be looked for. Dr. Kuehlmann, former foreign minister 
of the German empire, perceived this spring that Germany could not 
hope to force peace by a military decision. He said as much, and 
urged his associates to work out a scheme of peace by negotiation, 
provided always that Germany's eastern gains should not be yielded. 
This speech was approved by the kaiser before it was delivered. 
When the pan-Germans understood its purport they demanded Kuehl- 
mann's retirement, and got it. They thought they saw Paris about 
to fall into the maw of the German power, and they regarded the 
suggestion of negotiated peace as something next door to treason. 

Now there is a different hue over the situation in Germany and 
outside. The pan-Germans are still as rapacious as ever, but even 
swine know when they are driven from the trough. The German 
expansionists are beginning to see that what they have gained in the 
east will be lost in the west unless they agree to a compromise peace. 
Hence all parties in Germany are preparing to get together in a vig- 
orous campaign for peace with loot. 

The allies have met the enemy in battle and hurled him back. 
Are they sure they are equally strong in the field of politics? Have 
they any political or diplomatic triumphs over Germany equal to the 
splendid military triumphs of the last six weeks? Is it not true 
that in the last great political offensive of Germany, namely, the 
debauching of Russia and the signing of the infamous treaty of Brest- 
Litovsk, the allies were completely outclassed? Can any one point 

[291] 



NO PEACE WITHOUT VICTORY 

to an effective stroke by the allies in behalf of Russia during all 
that period? 

The allies have diplomatic intelligence, and terribly costly ex- 
perience has taught them not to shrink from the word "intrigue" 
when dealing with the stealthy assassin of nations. There is no good 
reason why the allies should concentrate all their intellect upon the 
military situation and permit Germany to make inroads and pos- 
sibly win a victory in the political field. What will the military sac- 
rifices amount to if the enemy succeeds in inducing public sentiment 
in allied countries to demand peace on what will appear to be liberal 
terms from Germany? 

It is false peace, not war, that the allies should fear. The war 
can go on as it has gone these last weeks, and every life lost will 
be a foundation-stone in the temple of liberty that is to stand eternal. 
But let the war come to an end this side of victory, and every life 
lost will have been a ghastly sacrifice to the derisive gods, Force and 
Fraud, which Germans worship. More lives will have to be sac- 
rificed later on, to extricate the world from the intolerable fetters 
of a peace of slavery. It is now or never with free men and men 
who would be free. They can attain their freedom and establish 
it now, once and for all, if they will have no dealings with the enemy 
except battle. 

There can be no peace tainted with German "concessions." The 
world does not want German war or German peace, or anything else 
made in Germany. All that the world wants of Germany now is 
unconditional surrender. Germany made the war, but she cannot 
make peace. The allies will block out and put in force their own 
peace. 



[292 



Saturday, August 31, 1918 
War Winners Must Be Peace Makers 

EVER since the German government deliberately trampled upon 
the rights of all nations, whether enemies or neutrals, right- 
minded Americans have been in favor of war against Germany 
to the point of its unconditional surrender. This appears to them 
to be the only method by which a nation making itself an outlaw and 
resorting to foul play in war can be brought within the grasp of 
civilization and be disarmed and punished for its crimes. 

The United States finally entered the war with a pledge that 
it would employ all the resources of the nation to secure a successful 
termination of the struggle. It immediately assisted the allied na- 
tions and has cooperated with them in every way, so that its associa- 
tion with them now constitutes a tie much more binding than any 
form of words. 

The United States went to war without waiting for other neutrals 
to do so. President Wilson suggested to the neutral nations that all 
of them might properly join the forces of civilization which were 
called upon to subdue Germany. Some of the neutrals in the Western 
Hemisphere accepted this view of the universality of Germany's as- 
sault upon the rights of nations. Other governments shut their eyes 
to the attack upon their sovereignty and their rights, and have re- 
mained neutral or pro-German. 

Providence has ordained that the outlaw shall be overcome. The 
allied nations, supported by the United States, are now strong enough 
to force Germany back. Soon the combined allies with an American 
army of at least 4,000,000 men will be in a position to annihilate the 
German military power, and to command the emperor to hand over 
his sword in unconditional surrender on pain of the destruction of the 
empire. The allies will do this, and the emperor, whoever he may be 
at that time, will hand over the sword of dishonor. 

Thereupon the allied nations, as the trustees and guardians of 
civilization and liberty, will proceed to shape a lasting and equitable 
peace binding upon the late enemy and upon themselves and all other 
nations. 

Neutral nations will ask to share in the conference on the ground 
that their fortunes are affected. 

They will not be admitted to the conference room. 

[293] 



WAR WINNERS MUST BE PEACE MAKERS 

If any nation wishes to share in the trusteeship and guardianship 
of civilization, let it share now, when there is blood to be shed. Let 
it share in the hardships and dangers of war. Then it will be entitled 
to share in the judgments of peace. 

The nations at war against Germany are showing their fitness to 
be trustees of civilization and liberty by giving their blood and 
treasure and existence, if necessary, to secure the defeat of Germany 
as a preliminary to a safe and equitable peace. These nations can 
be trusted to be as honorable and unselfish in adjusting international 
rights as they are in fighting for them. No neutral government can 
justly question the good faith of nations that are bleeding in behalf 
of liberty. No neutral government hereafter can honorably demand 
a place at the peace table on the plea that it questions the good faith 
of the nations that had fought against Germany. 

When the sublime hour arrives for the gathering of the triumphant 
nations to establish the just peace of the world, let no government 
that remained neutral during the war presume to intrude. The war 
winners must be the peace makers. No one can now be trusted to 
win liberty except those who fight for it. No one can then be trusted 
to establish just peace except those who have fought for it. A neutral 
nation now is a neuter, a sexless organism, a dark planet, a thing 
neither fish, flesh, nor fowl. It is 50 per cent for the enemy and 50 
per cent for liberty. It is living only for itself. It is selfish now, and 
it would be selfish in the peace conference. It might be an accomplice 
of Germany, or a ravenous and obscene bird seeking to devour Ger- 
many. Indeed, it is quite probable that the allied nations will be 
in the position of defending their prostrate enemy against the rapacity 
of nations that are now too selfish or too cowardly to fight. 

The allies will not do injustice to neutrals in establishing peace. 
But the allies are now responsible for the security and liberty of 
the world, and they will not permit any interference with the con- 
scientious and complete execution of their trust. 



[294] 



Sunday, September 1, 1918 

Germany's Last Card 

THERE can be no doubt that Germany is preparing to make as 
determined and skillful a campaign to constrain the allies to 
come to peace as she has made to conquer them in war. 

The campaign is assuming form, although all except the general 
outline is shadowy. Apparently Dr. Solf, minister for the colonies, 
is to be one of the prime movers, and it is even reported that he is 
about to be elevated to the chancellorship in place of Count von 
Hertling, who is full of years and unfitted now to assume the invita- 
tory and conciliatory attitude which the new policy calls for. 

Dr. Solf recently made a bold speech, far too bold to be delivered 
by a minister without permission of the emperor and chancellor. It 
was a direct bid for peace by negotiation. He threw out a few insults, 
for the delectation of the groundlings, but the tenor of his address 
was clearly preliminary to the peace campaign that is coming. 

In some respects Dr. Solf would be good material for the work 
in hand. He is ingenious, unscrupulous, polished, ingratiating to some 
degree, and thoroughly informed of the matters that must be handled. 
If the German government is to take the defensive in the field and 
assume the offensive in peace intrigue, Dr. Solf is well adapted to 
play the role of Machiavelli. 

Germany's peace moves arise, of course, from her necessity. 
Defeat is coming. The brains that have organized and wielded with 
skill the mightiest military force in history are not suddenly dull. 
They foresee the end so far as brute force is concerned. The end was 
exhibited to them in letters of blazing light when they struck at 
France on March 21 and failed to break through. From that moment 
it need not be doubted that the military leaders of Germany, which 
is to say the power behind the throne, have sought a way to escape 
from the defeat that is made certain by Germany's waning and 
America's waxing strength. 

Several methods have been considered by the German leaders, 
and some of them have been tried. One was to smash Italy. It 
miserably failed. Another was to stir up strife among the allies, 
particularly between Japan and the Western allies. This maneuver 
not only failed, but it hastened the understanding between the United 
States and Japan which is now working for the salvation of Russia. 

[295] 



GERMANY'S LAST CARD 

The chief maneuver of all is now to be tried — a carefully designed and 
vigorously conducted peace intrigue, of vast scope, having for its 
object the extrication of the German armies from defeat and the 
annexation of great territories to Germany with consent of the allies. 
Broadly speaking, Germany aims to secure these ends in exchange 
for her agreement to quit the fight. 

The keen intellects in Germany will bear watching in this peace 
intrigue. The German government will make startling "concessions," 
which will appeal to the unthinking and the unwary. Among the 
offers doubtless will be the restitution of Belgium to its government; 
a plan to let the people of Alsace-Lorraine determine for themselves 
whether they shall be joined to France or Germany; all sorts of 
guarantees to the allies concerning submarine warfare, such as aboli- 
tion of the war zone, respect for neutral flags, the safe removal of 
human beings before sinking enemy merchant vessels and safety 
lanes in which Germany will guarantee that no submarine shall ever 
appear. These baits will be cunningly prepared and persistently 
offered, and they will be supported by artificial public opinion or- 
ganized by German propagandists in the several allied countries. 

The German emperor will give up anything to save his life and 
crown. He will give up almost anything to hold the territory he 
has seized. He will give up much to save his army before it has been 
driven back to the point where surrender will be forced. One offer 
after another, each more tempting than the last, will be made to 
the allies. Much will depend upon the state of opinion in the allied 
countries and the effect of this opinion upon the allies' political policy. 
Advantage will be taken of every difference of opinion among the 
allied governments. The peace propaganda may force wedges into the 
armor that now makes the allies one great steel-clad driving force. 
If so, these wedges will be quickly driven in by the desperate plotters 
of Potsdam. 

Germany must be saved from abject surrender. Fighting has 
failed. Look out for peace intrigue. 



1296] 



Wednesday, September 4> 1918 
The Rise of New Nations 

THE thunder of victorious guns and the sound of the onrush of 
allied armies through the enemy lines are glorious music to 
the world. The explosions cannot be too loud, the shouts of 
the victors cannot be too widely spread along the front that is moving 
eastward. Civilization rejoices in these evidences of allied power and 
hails the moment when the last enemy soldiers shall cross the border 
or fall before the pursuers. 

But there is another event which means even more now and 
hereafter than the current military advance. That is the recogni- 
tion of the Czecho-Slovak government by the United States, as a 
co-belligerent against the German and Austro-Hungarian empires. 

The allied armies may be checked, or (God prevent it) they may 
be pushed back somewhat, as the fortunes of war may determine. 
But the recognition of the new nation will not be set aside. It is 
now a historic and settled fact, one of the fundamental facts of the 
war which will dictate the nature of victory and the nature of peace. 

The United States has taken the hand of the new Czecho-Slovak 
nation, as a nation that is and should be free and independent of 
Austria-Hungary. Italy, France and Great Britain had already 
recognized the de facto government. Yesterday's act of the United 
States means that the war will shatter the Hapsburg empire and 
knock over the Hapsburg throne. Peace will not come with the 
Czecho-Slovaks of Bohemia and Moravia remaining in bondage to 
the media?val and corrupt Hapsburg dynasty. The Poles of Austria- 
Hungary will have a land and a flag of their own before this war 
is over. The Italians under Austrian bondage, weeping like those 
daughters of Jerusalem by the waters of Babylon, will be joined to 
their own country again. The Jugoslavs, Croats and Serbs of southern 
Austria are emerging as an independent nation, and will strike off 
the Austrian yoke during this war. Finally, the Roumanians of 
Transylvania will be annexed to the land and flag of their fore- 
fathers, in the course of the dismemberment of the Hapsburg empire. 

Even the Magyars are oppressed by the insufferable Teutons and 
their junker accomplices among the Magyar nobility. It is quite 
probable that when the nationalities of the Austro-Hungarian empire 
rise in response to the universal cry for liberty they will find liberty- 
loving Magyars shoulder to shoulder with them. 

[297] 



THE RISE OF NEW NATIONS 

It is a majestic sight when a nation like the United States stoops 
down and places its shield of stars and stripes between a struggling; 
people and their merciless oppressors. That shield typifies the ser- 
vice which Americans are now privileged to perform as partial rec- 
ognition of the blessings that have been poured upon this nation. 
Liberty is like truth and light in its quality of universality. It can- 
not bear discrimination. Its widely separated elements coalesce in 
spite of war, time or distance. Men who are white, black, yellow, 
brown and red are equally entitled to liberty and are equally keen 
in apprehending its presence or absence. The liberty of the United 
States, without which Americans cannot breathe, is the liberty which 
the Czecho-Slovaks are fighting for. 

The enemy, now writhing under fire in France, is just as uni- 
versally the enemy of liberty as it is the enemy of truth. It strikes 
at all nations that are free or trying to become free. Its triumph 
means the death of all liberty, not merely the death of liberty in 
small, feeble nations. The smashing of this enemy means the safety 
of liberty everywhere, not merely in the United States. 

Free men are brothers in this war, wherever they may be. They 
are brothers of all men who are striving to be free. The allied nations 
are the means whereby the spirit of liberty may work its will against 
its last and greatest enemy. Governments may come and go, but 
freedom must not budge while humanity exists. 

Hail to the new nation whose sons are gallantly fighting in 
France, Russia and Italy! May Bohemia shine with more than its 
ancient glory, and may Americans teach their children that it was 
in this day, in this age, that America gladly gave of her strength 
to make other peoples free! 



298 



Sunday, September 8, 1918 
The March of Victory 

THE enemy is virtually back on the line which he held in 1917. 
The only net result of his adventure of last spring is 450,000 
dead and captured Germans and 700,000 Germans put out of 
action. Marshal Foch is pursuing him with implacable energy. There 
is nothing in the situation to suggest that the German high command 
will be able to halt at the Wotan or any other line. The allied 
forces are stronger than the enemy's, and have the advantage of 
better equipment and superior methods of attack. Their tanks run 
over the enemy defenses and exterminate machine gun nests with 
ease and dispatch. The enemy is becoming more depressed daily, as 
he sees his defenses crumbling and his reserves melting away. 

There are hints that the full strength of the Americans is not 
yet employed; that the American soldiers may strike soon in a new 
quarter, to the increased embarrassment of the enemy. 

The French and British armies are accomplishing marvelous 
things. They have taken on new life. They have recovered most 
valuable terrain, but better than that, they have revived their own 
spirit of victory, which was benumbed by the terrific onslaughts and 
steady advances of the enemy in March, April, May, June and July. 
That the French and British armies withstood these tremendous 
attacks and fought to the end, against overwhelming odds, speaks 
volumes for their undying tenacity and glorious courage. They have 
richly earned victory, having faced defeat without despair. Now 
that the fortunes of war smile upon them, they are still modest, still 
patient, still devoted solely to their cause. It is an honor to the 
American army that it can associate with such splendidly heroic men. 

The rapidly increasing American force may enable Marshal 
Foch to carry the war into Germany without regard to winter. We 
earnestly hope so. If the enemy should gain a respite during the 
winter he will be harder to kill next spring. If possible, the allied 
offensive should go forward without cessation, bearing down the 
enemy at every point and giving him no rest, night or day. At the 
rate the allied armies are moving forward they will have France and 
Belgium swept clean before many months have passed. Then the 
goal will be in sight. The Rhine must be crossed in force by the 
gallant armies of France, England and America. 

[299] 



THE MARCH OF VICTORY 

If the enemy should be so foolish as to resist, it will then be the 
duty of the allied armies to lay waste the country as they advance — 
and may they do their duty thoroughly ! The German territory ought 
to feel the scourge of flame and be turned over by the plowshare of 
war. The allies should spare civilian life in all cases, but they should 
not leave one stone upon another as they march upon Berlin. If 
Cologne and Bonn and Coblenz and Frankfurt must be razed to the 
ground before the enemy will surrender, then let them be razed and 
burned, so that no man may ever know them again. The Germans 
cannot learn their lesson until it has been bombed into their heads 
and burned into their flesh. They must learn it, for the sake of the 
world's safety; therefore let the bombing and the burning go forward 
as speedily and as thoroughly as possible. 

One of the reports from the front states that the Americans 
"hunted the Germans down like wild beasts." That is a most satis- 
factory report. The Germans are wild beasts in this war. They 
should be treated as such. The more rapidly they are exterminated 
the sooner the world can lift up its head and recover its spirits. Since 
the war as made by Germany has been reduced to the alternative 
of a dead civilization or a dead German military system, let the 
issue be decided without delay. 



[300 



Friday, September 13, 1918 

America Strikes 

ANOTHER stunning blow has been struck at the quaking Ger- 
J^\_ man line in France, this time by American and French troops 
in the Woevre section. On both sides of the St. Mihiel salient 
the Americans made an assault along a total frontage of twenty 
miles, while the French troops attacked the tip of the salient and 
reached the outskirts of St. Mihiel itself. The Americans took sev- 
eral towns and made good their progress on both sides, their greatest 
penetration on the first day being five miles. At last accounts the 
fight was progressing favorably for the allies. 

The stronghold of Metz is not far from the point of battle con- 
tact, and it is surmised in some quarters that Gen. Pershing is making 
Metz his objective. It is far more probable that he is aiming to 
restore to France the invaluable coal and iron basin of Briey. This 
rich mineral field is one of the regions most coveted by Germany. It 
has been made to turn its product against French breasts, and has 
contributed generously to the scanty store of Germany's raw materials. 
For sentimental and practical reasons it seems probable that the 
offensive now under way has for its object the wresting of this region 
from the Germans. Metz would yield the French no special advan- 
tage, but the basin of Briey, restored, would instantly increase the 
French resources of coal and iron and correspondingly diminish Ger- 
many's supply. 

Coincident with the first American major offensive comes the 
German emperor's whining plea to the munition workers of Essen 
to keep at their task, starve themselves indefinitely, cease their mur- 
murs and bear in mind that Germany is beset with a world of enemies 
who are determined to annihilate her. The emperor's repeated re- 
quest that the common people should stifle their dissatisfaction, and 
his labored attempt to satisfy them that they can obtain relief only 
by further sacrifice, indicate that the murmurs are taking on a 
menacing tone which disturbs and alarms the throne. The Germans 
are the dumbest of the driven cattle of mankind, but even such 
cattle may be driven too hard and too far. The kaiser used all his 
arts of falsehood and hypocrisy, which are admittedly great, for the 
purpose of convincing his people that they must keep on working, 
starving, fighting and dying for him and his cause. 

[301 ] 



AMERICA STRIKES 

The grim assault by the Americans, within sight of German soil 
and almost within sound of Essen, may have a counter effect upon 
the sorely tried bodies and minds of the German people. Here is a 
new enemy, of illimitable potential strength, appearing at the very 
border of the empire and avowedly striking down the system that 
curses Germany and the world alike. The Americans are not seeking 
to gain ownership by conquest of German soil, and the German 
people, unless they are cattle in literal truth, know that America is 
not making a war of conquest. If, under the double stress of priva- 
tion within and defeat without, there should be no ray of the truth 
penetrating into German brains, if they should cling to their heathen 
idols of force and fraud in spite of the call to freedom, then they 
deserve to die at the feet of their blood-stained gods, and to have 
these false gods, smashed to dust, constitute the burial mound of the 
German race. 

Emperor William is right in one of his remarks, which is to 
the effect that peace is not coming until one side or the other is 
disabled. He cannot conceal from himself the inexorable end which 
was foreordained when he falsified his trust, defied God and man, 
and deliberately attempted to substitute force for right in this world. 
The world will not have it. Humanity was overreached at first by 
the suddenness and audacity and unbelievable criminality of the 
assault. But humanity has gathered strength as it has gathered 
wrath, and with wrath it has determined that there shall be no end 
except universal liberty and the extinction of the Hohenzollern and 
Hapsburg system of force and oppression. 

Now Hohenzollern hears the thunder of the guns of the New 
World, rocking the very foundation of his throne. He sees the mar- 
shaling of 13,000,000 Americans to reinforce the millions already or- 
ganized to dispatch him. He sees France reinvigorated and implac- 
able. He sees the British empire roused as a lioness robbed of her 
young. He sees the Russian people throwing off the effects of the 
drugs with which he and his infernal agents poisoned them. On 
every side he sees armed nations rising to bring him to death. 

It is decreed and written. Mankind will not quit until the blood 
of the world's murderers has been spilled on the ground. Hohen- 
zollern may squeak and gibber as he pleases, he can equivocate with 
God and man, but he cannot shut from his ears the growing roar of 
the guns that tell him of the end. 



302 



Saturday, September 14, 1918 
The Crisis in Russia 

THE wiping out of the St. Mihiel salient in two days, with the 
capture of over 12 7 000 prisoners and the shifting of the fighting 
zone to the border of German territory, is sufficient warrant 
for American jubilation. The United States army by its work this 
week has proved itself worthy of taking rank alongside the glorious 
armies of France, England and Italy. These four comrades-in-arms, 
•now hardened in battle, will attend to the task of thrusting the enemy 
out of France, Belgium and Italy. There need be no further appre- 
hension regarding the tendency of warfare on the western front. 

Russia remains the unsolved problem. The allies have not yet 
reached the point where they can see the certain end, as they can 
see it in the west. Germany still counts upon the mutilation and ex- 
ploitation of Russia. Herr von Payer, German vice chancellor, whose 
speech at Stuttgart is just at hand, cannot bring himself to contem- 
plate the withdrawal of Germany from Russia. He says in effect that 
while Germany will give back all western territory after the allies have 
restored the German colonies and signed a peace treaty, Germany 
will not consent to any revision or alteration of the treaties with 
Russia, Ukrainia and Roumania. What Germany has stolen in the 
East she intends to keep, peace or no peace. 

The world apparently is about to see the curtain rise upon a vast 
and gloomy pageant in Russia. The land is masterless, defenseless 
and subject to the throes of famine, bloodshed and pestilence. Wild 
creatures bereft of reason are beginning to rise and kill those who 
possess either education or property. A ferocity like that of jungle 
tigers has seized upon elements of the population, who think they see 
in other elements their deadly enemies. The capitals of Russia, long 
renowned for their accumulations of art and their atmosphere of ur- 
banity and culture, are now lurid with incendiary fires, mad with orgies 
of blood and resounding with the pandemonium of anarchy and famine. 
The Russian millions are falling into the vortex of universal lawless- 
ness. Soon, unless civilization can intercede, there will be a condition 
in which each human being will roam about with a knife, killing his 
fellow creatures for food, burning houses for warmth and falling at 
last a victim of starvation or pest. 

The aid now being furnished to Russia by the allies is feeble and 
utterly inadequate. It must be increased and diversified forthwith 

[303] 



THE CRISIS IN RUSSIA 

if an appalling catastrophe is to be even in part averted. Russia needs 
almost every kind of aid that civilization can furnish. The allies are 
giving Russia a military shield to protect her against the German 
ghouls who would rob her emaciated and diseased body. But the allies 
must do more than that. They must see that Russia receives food and 
medicine, clothing and shelter, support and protection against the 
wolves of humanity. There are individuals in allied countries who are 
now preparing to prey upon Russia's weakness and misfortune. These 
robbers must be kept out of Russia. There are Russians who are 
waiting to rob their countrymen. They must be exterminated. 

From all that appears on the surface, Japan is far ahead of the 
other allies in preparations for befriending Russia in an effective and 
adequate manner. Japan appreciates the magnitude of the task as 
no other nation seems to appreciate it. Aside from military assistance 
on a scale that means success, Japan has sent forward an economic 
commission with authority to work out plans for aiding the Russians 
to obtain food and other necessities while they are getting upon their 
own feet. Japan is taking such steps as will protect the Russians 
against profiteers and brigands. In the meantime the Russian and 
Japanese soldiers are fraternizing, which is the best possible refutation 
of the allegation that the allies are trying to exploit Russia. 

The United States could be of immense benefit to Russia by giving 
economic assistance. This government should not stop with the send- 
ing of troops to fight the Germans and the bolsheviki. There should 
be an amplification of plans to a point commensurate with the great 
task. No effort is too arduous or too costly for America to undertake 
in befriending Russia at this critical hour. The only mistake that 
can possibly be made is to underestimate the urgency and magnitude 
of the help required. 



[304] 



Monday, September 16, 1918 

Who Will Dare to Make Peace? 

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, the catspaw of Germany in starting this 
J^\ war, is the catspaw of Germany in trying to end it, now that 
Germany realizes that defeat is inevitable. 

For many months after Germany had severed all connections 
with civilization, Austria-Hungary contrived to maintain a hypo- 
critical pretense of respectability which deceived the allies to some 
extent. Mr. Lloyd George and President Wilson apparently had some 
confidence in Austria's good faith, for they both stated that the dis- 
memberment of Austria was outside the scope of the aims of those 
nations at war against Germany. Later, both the British and United 
States governments had reason to regret that they had entertained 
the idea of treating Austria as a friend. 

The Hapsburg government has been corrupt for centuries, but 
it has not been a servile tool of Germany until comparatively re- 
cently. Bismarck humbled the Hapsburgs, and William II has 
treated them as the hirelings they are. The two bolshevik traitors, 
Lenine and Trotzky, vile as they are, can at least claim company with 
Emperor Carl of Austria, who has sold his honor and his nation to 
the same syndicate that purchased Lenine and Trotzky. 

A peace overture from Austria-Hungary is a peace overture from 
the savage murderers of Belgium and France. It is an invitation to 
civilization to clasp the foul and blood-stained hand that betrayed and 
assassinated Serbia, Roumania and Russia, set fire to America's fac- 
tories and bridges, torpedoed the Lusitania, strewed bombs upon 
women and children in London and Paris, and with fiendish malice 
destroyed farms, orchards, villages, and roads in France. 

What a treat for the fiends, what laughter there would be in the 
confines of hell, if civilization should be deceived into taking the 
hand of its assassin! 

The world will not be deceived. There will be no peace by nego- 
tiation with assassins. 

Germany, possessing force and inspired by greed, deliberately 
started this war. It has not gone to suit Germany. Civilization, al- 
most overwhelmed, has rallied and is now about to shake off and slay 
its assailant. And the murderer asks for a parley! 

[305] 



WHO WILL DARE TO MAKE PEACE? 

Germany started this war. Civilization will finish it. No 
one seemed to see clearly in 1914 that the war could not end 
until mankind was liberated from all systems which deny the prin- 
ciple of government with consent of the governed. Mankind itself did 
not know that it was to be shocked and bayonetted into universal 
alarm and wrath, to culminate in a universal uprising for liberty. 
Many minds are still dark. They fail to understand that this is a war 
for universal liberty, and not a misunderstanding that can be patched 
up by a few diplomats appointed by Germany and the allies. 

The objective of mankind is liberty, not peace. It is annihilation 
of the systems that control men's liberties, not the annihilation of 
the German people or the expansion of allied territory. It is not a 
territorial or material war. It is purely a struggle of spirit, trying 
to attain its object by using the hammer of force. Battles are not 
fought for themselves, but for an object that is in the realm of the 
spirit. Men fight, not because they are dragged by chains into battle, 
but because they are inspired with a desire, something not pertaining 
to the senses, not a part of their material equipment. 

The spirit that animates the allied millions, which commands them 
to go into battle and conquer, is the spirit of liberty. That spirit is 
now aflame throughout the world, and in outraged majesty is driving 
its sword straight toward the heart of its assailant. Who will at- 
tempt to stay Liberty's hand? Who is the statesman or ruler who will 
dare to stay the execution of the assassin? Who is the man who will 
try to interfere with God's will as voiced by His people? 



[306 



Thursday, September 19, 1918 

The Finish Fight 

THE word "peace" undoubtedly exercises a hypnotic fascina- 
tion over some minds. Austria-Hungary's proposal for a secret 
conference to discuss ways of arriving at peace actually misled 
a minority of individuals in the allied countries, and in one con- 
spicuous instance it led a great newspaper into a false and humiliat- 
ing position. The mistake was due to confusion of thought as to 
the true meaning of the fighting and the essential difference between 
this war and a war between two nations. 

Those who were misled by Austria's proposal thought only of 
the appalling sacrifices of this war and took it for granted that ex- 
changes of views would afford a basis for making mutual concessions 
or accommodations which would result in peace. They looked at this 
war as a quarrel. They looked upon peace as the great objective. 

The sacrifice of blood and property in fighting this war is in- 
calculably great; but that is a subordinate fact, practically negligible 
as compared with the importance of the issue at stake. 

Exchanges of views would not afford any basis for concessions 
or accommodations, because the nations acting for civilization in 
this crisis are not making any concessions or accommodations. They 
cannot make any with safety to humanity. 

This war is not a quarrel among nations over rights or territory 
that can be adjusted by mutual conference. It is an uprising of 
humanity in the fixed determination to break the fetters of oppres- 
sion by subduing, disarming, and if need be by annihilating the or- 
ganized power that attacked the free nations with the intention of 
making it impossible for men to exist on this planet and govern their 
own governments. 

While that organized power exists there will be war. When 
that organized power has been destroyed there will be peace. 

The power that attacked mankind did not intend to have the 
war take this turn. It began the war merely to enlarge and consoli- 
date the German empire and incidentally to take over some of the 
property belonging to other nations. But the war having taken this 
turn, it is not possible for the power that started the war to stop it, 
except by surrender or suicide. No mandate of this power, no exer- 

[307] 



THE FINISH FIGHT 



cise of brute force by it, and no proposal to discuss the subject will 
have any effect whatever upon the will and action of civilization, 
acting through its agents, the allied nations. 

The brute force of civilization is now greater than the brute force 
that attacks it. Each brute force is organized into a complicated, 
effective machine for dealing death in the mass and for destroying 
property in the aggregate. Neither machine thinks or moves of its 
own initiative. Each is controlled by an intelligence, and this intelli- 
gence acts in obedience to a fixed rule. In one case the rule is com- 
plete denial of the right of peoples to govern themselves, with the 
inevitable corollary that they must be governed by the power in 
control of the machine, with annihilation as the penalty for opposi- 
tion. In the other case the rule is unqualifiedly assertion of the right 
of peoples to govern themselves, without interference or constraint 
by any earthly power, with the inevitable corollary that any organized 
power attempting to destroy this right shall be annihilated. 

And now they are at it, tooth and nail; and thank God, it is a 
fight to the finish! 

Who, knowing the nature of the issue, doubts the outcome? 
Peace before the complete settlement of this conflict by the death of 
one or the other of these powers would be a calamity to humanity. 
What sum of blood and treasure can compare with the sum total of 
liberty? What is peace, with liberty left out? 



[308] 



Saturday, September 28, 1918 
Bulgaria's Peace Appeal 

BULGARIA, corrupt, treacherous and on the verge of revolution, 
asks Gen. Franchet d'Esperey for an armistice as a prelim- 
inary to peace overtures. Gen. d'Esperey refuses to suspend 
military operations, but signifies his willingness to receive Bulgarian 
delegates. In the meantime, Greek, British, French and Serbian troops 
are closing in on Bulgaria. The kingdom is bankrupt, the people 
are in starvation and revolt, the Turks are threatening them on one 
side and the Germans are bleeding them on the other, while the allies 
are about to destroy the army and occupy the country. 

Well may Bulgaria sue for peace! But can she make peace 
any more successfully than she can make war? In control of every 
division of the Bulgar army is a German. A German field marshal 
directs the Bulgar strategy. Germany controls the railroads and the 
financial system, the transportation and supply systems, and the 
liaisons with the other enemy armies. King Ferdinand may propose 
peace, but Germany is more than likely to dispose of him. He has 
appealed in vain to Field Marshal Mackensen for help, but Macken- 
sen has his hands full in Roumania, where the people under plucky 
Queen Marie's inspiration are refusing to be bound to the German 
chariot. Ferdinand's flight from Sofia would not be a surprising in- 
cident just now. He is a wise bird as well as a foul one, and can 
smell trouble from afar. 

The United States cannot take part in the smash-up of Bulgaria, 
much as Americans would enjoy doing so. The American government 
has not seen fit to regard Bulgaria as an enemy. But fortunately 
the other allies have taken Bulgaria's measure and will not permit her 
to wriggle out of their grasp by any true or false peace proposals. If 
Bulgaria is actually in extremis and must get peace at any price, 
the allies will give her peace at their price. If she is attempting 
treachery, the attempt will be in vain, for the allies' forces will con- 
tinue their advance on Sofia. 

Unconditional surrender is the only possible method by which 
Bulgaria or any other of the enemy nations can obtain even a 
breathing space in which to hand over the sword. In Bulgaria's case 
it goes without saying that the allies will not make any peace which 
does not take into full account the rights of Serbia and Greece. These 

[309] 



BULGARIA'S PEACE APPEAL 

nations, which were betrayed by Bulgaria at the beginning of this 
war, will demand the restitution of invaded territory as a sine qua 
non of peace negotiations; then reparation and guarantees. That part 
of Macedonia which is Serbia's must be restored to Serbia; and that 
part of Greece which was villainously delivered over to Bulgaria by 
the traitor Constantine must be handed back. The Greek soldiers 
whom he caused to be betrayed into German hands must be returned 
safely to their own country. In a word, the deviltry perpetrated by 
Bulgaria under German inspiration must be wiped out before Bul- 
garia can expect to ward off the avenging sword. If Bulgaria is still 
so tightly in the German grip that she cannot comply with these con- 
ditions, then the sword must do its work. 

If the allies should consult the United States concerning the 
Bulgarian proposal, as they are likely to do notwithstanding America's 
nonparticipation in war against Bulgaria and Turkey, the advice 
from this government undoubtedly will be strongly against any armis- 
tice except upon the unconditional surrender of Bulgaria. The allies 
are now in consultation upon the matter, and it is reassuring to know 
that M. Pachitch, premier of Serbia, is in Paris, in touch with M. 
Clemenceau. Serbia is better acquainted with the details of Bul- 
garia's treachery to the allies than the French or British governments 
can possibly be, and Serbia knows exactly what conditions must be 
imposed in order to attain justice, liberty and peace in the Balkans. 

Bulgaria's squeal is the forerunner of squeals from Turkey, 
Austria-Hungary and Germany. Let the good work go on! Blessed 
are the peace-makers, the great guns of the allies that are thundering 
on every front! Foch, Haig, Pershing, Diaz, Allenby, d'Esperey, 
Otani and the other generals are doing God's work when they smash 
down the enemy defenses and batter their way to the heart of the 
outlaw empires. Liberty will make the proper kind of peace. 



[310] 



Wednesday, October 2, 1918 
Closing In On the Enemy 

THE enemy is now palpably suffering from internal convulsions. 
They are unerring indications of demoralization and har- 
bingers of defeat. The collapse may not come soon, for the 
fabric of German militarism is both extensive and tough, but the 
fact is now recognized throughout the world that the German system 
is doomed. Miscalculations, adverse circumstances, and the growing 
strength of the allies have combined to deal deadly blows at the 
Germans, and matters have reached such a pass that not all the 
intellect and force at their command are sufficient to repair the 
breaches. The German armies are overmatched; German intrigue 
in the Balkans is outmaneuvered ; German influence in Russia is 
waning as the allies gain momentum; the German people are restive, 
despondent and menacing. 

The gigantic shadow of the coming catastrophe has thrown all 
Germany into darkness. The emperor and his satellites are in a 
semi-panic. The chancellor is borne down by conflicting currents, yet 
he must wield the emperor's authority for a while, as there is no 
stronger hand. The emperor throws out sops to public opinion, while 
withholding any definite assurance of relief or liberalization of po- 
litical powers. He says he wishes to give the people greater participa- 
tion in the direction of government; but he stops with the pretended 
wish. His empty phrases are just the kind that are uttered by tyrants 
before their fall, when they are blinded by folly and cannot see the 
prison bars or the grave at the end of their road. 

Mitteleuropa has been disemboweled by the collapse of Bul- 
garia. It is more destructive of Germany's vitality than Russia's de- 
fection proved to be to the allies' strength. The allies virtually traded 
off Russia for America, but Germany cannot find another road to 
Turkey. Without Bulgaria Turkey is lost, and without Turkey the 
Hohenzollern and Hapsburg empires stand surrounded with crush - 
ingly powerful enemies. Turkey's loss means Russia's recovery 
through allied assistance via the Black Sea. It means also a direct 
attack upon Austria's weakest flank by a combination of powers sup- 
ported by both land and sea transportation. It probably means, also, 
the early clearing of the Adriatic and hence the closing of the Medi- 
terranean to every hostile submarine. This, in turn, would mean the 

[311] 



CLOSING IN ON THE ENEMY 

immediate strengthening of the allied forces from Gibraltar to Odessa 
and Archangel. 

The psychological condition of Germany is as bad as the political 
and military conditions. The failure to break down the allies in 
March, April and June caused widespread depression in Germany. 
It has been intensified and made universal by the failure of the army 
to withstand the allied onslaughts. Nothing so strongly proves the 
changed temper of the Germans as the language now employed by 
the German emperor. He is compelled to appeal to the people to 
modify their anger and grant the government another chance. His 
words reveal that the people are in an ugly mood. 

The allies are redoubling their efforts to break down the enemy 
system, now that it is badly battered. Every possible effort should 
be employed at this time. The activities of the people, their armies 
and their rulers should be incessant and most carefully directed to the 
great end in view. The enemy will not fail to seize every possible 
expedient to wriggle out of disaster. He has shown that he can act 
with lightning quickness. He is capable of immense mischief and 
was never as dangerous as at present. If the allies should relax their 
vigilance or their effort in politics and on the battlefield, the enemy 
would be enabled to prolong the war and possibly find advantages in 
the hour of surrender. 

While Foch's hammer is battering down Germany's main strength 
in the west, the allies should strain every nerve to beat down and 
annihilate the enemy elsewhere as well. After four years of failure 
the allies now have the upper hand in the Balkans. They will have 
only themselves to blame if the enemy should elude their grasp and 
again outwit them as he did in 1914, 1915, 1916 and 1917. 



[312] 



Sunday, October 6, 1918 

The Critical Days 

THE enemy is desperately endeavoring to make both peace and 
war. His cunning diplomatists and skilled generals are strain- 
ing every nerve to extricate the German empire from the posi- 
tion into which its folly has plunged it. If the generals can win vic- 
tory, peace will be discarded as a worn-off garment. If the diploma- 
tists can negotiate an advantageous peace, war will be abandoned in- 
stantly on account of its killing effect upon the German people. 

The German government, by incessant care for over 40 years, 
has built up an intelligence service, a spy system and a propaganda 
system which far excel those of any other country. The German 
leaders are not only informed of the sentiment in democratic and 
therefore outspoken nations, but are able to conceal from those nations 
the real purposes of Germany, thanks to the absolutism which con- 
fines vital secrets to a few minds. 

As the situation of the German empire becomes more desperate 
because of military reverses and such political defeats as the collapse 
of Bulgaria, the world may be sure that the German leaders will 
redouble their efforts to find a way out. They are using their intelli- 
gence service to ascertain to a nicety what the peoples of free nations 
are thinking of, whether they could be wheedled into making peace 
without victory, or whether they will compel their governments to 
carry on the war at any cost until the German government surrenders 
unconditionally or is shattered. 

While a large part of the German people have a distorted idea 
of America and Americans, it cannot be denied that the German gov- 
ernment is remarkably well informed. Its spy service keeps it well 
posted and its propagandists and secret agents here do their best to 
interpret American psychology for the German government's informa- 
tion. They sometimes make a mess of it, but nevertheless they do 
obtain information and convey it to Berlin. Therefore it behooves 
Americans to guard their tongues and their writings. 

Undue and irresponsible discussion of peace possibilities by 
Americans is a help to the enemy. It aids him in devising schemes 
for entangling the peoples of entente countries so that they will, 
perhaps, turn from extreme exertions in supporting the war and begin 
to dally with peace dreams. Is it not quite possible at this moment 

[313] 



THE CRITICAL DAYS 

that Americans have slackened their support of the boys at the front 
by mistaking the recent successes as sure forerunners of overwhelming 
and early victory? What right have Americans here to presume that 
the allied armies will soon bring the German system to its knees? 
There is more ignorance than knowledge here concerning the immense 
war operations on the western front. No one in the United States, not 
even President Wilson, is competent to pass judgment upon the strate- 
gic and tactical problems involved in the defeat of the German armies. 
President Wilson modestly leaves the matter to expert commanders 
on the ground, but other Americans are not quite so diffident. They 
do not hesitate to pass upon the peace and war questions, strategy 
and all, and they are pleased if the German government takes notice 
of any suggestions they may make. 

These days are more critical and important than any that have 
elapsed since the war began. The German empire is actually more 
dangerous now than at any previous time, because it is more desperate 
and because its poisoning peace overtures seem to be more greedily 
devoured in allied countries. It is a dangerous situation for the allies. 
The fruits of victory may be snatched from them by the wily adver- 
sary, working his cunning schemes upon the unsuspecting peoples of 
entente countries, and particularly America. Americans are so fond 
of praise, so magnanimous in success and so eager to prove their lib- 
erality that many of them are quite likely to urge "generous treat- 
ment" of the enemy, at the very moment when the enemy is preparing 
to stab America in the back. 

The problem of reaching peace out of this red morass of war is 
one that calls for extreme caution and firm will operating on all the 
factors involved. Offhand advice is worse than worthless. President 
Wilson and his close advisers will be taxed to the limit of their 
capacity and endurance in the days that are coming. American citi- 
zens can best assist them to clinch the victory by supporting the 
government; by buying liberty bonds; by paying their taxes honestly 
and cheerfully; by talking and thinking war and not peace, and by 
leaving the great problems to the great man who is charged with the 
solution of them. 



[314] 



Saturday, October 12,1918 
The Enemy in Panic 

THE destructive effect of the allied victories and President Wil- 
son's counterstroke to the German fraudulent peace proposal is 
beginning to appear. The counsels of the German empire are 
split into a thousand fragments. No two statesmen or newspapers 
hold the same opinion. The discussions range from frenzied rage to 
panic fear, and the suggestions for carrying on the peace overtures 
are as inconsistent and incoherent as the German military movements 
at the front. Evidently the whole nation is in one of those brain- 
storms which sometimes overwhelm the German intellect, causing it to 
execute the most absurd and animal-like contortions. 

No doubt the chief credit for this disturbance goes to the allied 
armies. The Germans are on the verge of panic. They know the full 
extent of the deviltries they have committed, and like all murderers 
they shudder at the approach of the avengers. There was nothing 
too hellish for the German army and navy and air fleet to perpetrate 
upon the allied peoples. Now, when the allied armies hammer their 
way to the Rhine, the German people fear that the malice that 
inspired their own acts will inspire the armies of France, England and 
America to ravage and devastate Germany. 

President Wilson's barbed shaft, however, is also responsible for 
much of the Teuton confusion. Prince Max of Baden fondly pre- 
sumed that he could impale Mr. Wilson upon one horn or the other 
of a dilemma when he asked the United States to request the allies 
to grant an armistice. He assumed that Mr. Wilson would answer 
yes or no, and either answer would have given the German govern- 
ment some leverage, either toward making peace or toward stiffening 
up the rapidly demoralizing army. But Mr. Wilson gave Germany no 
satisfaction either for peace or war. Instead, he threw into the Ger- 
man nation a bone of contention that has started the whole country 
to quarreling. 

The Germans are now up against this situation: The enemy is 
upon them. Not a moment is to be lost. A quick decision must be 
made, but it must be the right decision. The fate of the Hohenzol- 
lerns and the empire itself depends upon immediate correct action. 
What shall that action be? Shall Wilson's fourteen points be ac- 
cepted? Scan them again — Alsace-Lorraine to France, Serbia to 

[315] 



THE ENEMY IN PANIC 



Serbia, Belgium to Belgium, Poland to Poland — never! Germany 
will fight to the last ditch rather than surrender these gains. But 
Germany is almost at the last ditch! The allies are almost on the 
Rhine. The German armies are overmatched. America is sending 
2,000,000 more men, and 2,000,000 after them. Shall the army with- 
draw and then demand an armistice? Read Wilson's note again — 
there is no promise of an armistice ! 

But wait! Wilson asks the chancellor whom he represents. He 
seems to intimate that if the chancellor represents some one besides the 
old military crowd, he will discuss peace. Very good! Let Prince 
Max reply that he represents everybody in Germany — the emperor, 
the reichstag, the people. For what purpose? Wilson's question must 
be answered; does Germany accept the fourteen points or not? Do 
the German people accept the fourteen points? Never! Cannot 
they lie to Wilson and tell him they accept? But if they do, he will 
demand immediate compliance — withdrawal from Russia, France, 
Roumania, Belgium, Poland, Serbia, Alsace-Lorraine — as preliminary 
to any conference. Will not lies do any good? No; because Wilson 
will demand proof in action. Will not the truth do? No; because 
the truth is that Germany will not surrender her gains until she is 
beaten. Then Wilson will be satisfied with nothing but Germany's 
defeat and surrender? Yes. Then why try to fool him with words? 
Let us fool him with acts. 

Accordingly the German, Austro-Hungarian, Bulgarian and 
Turkish governments are doing their best, with the remnant of com- 
posure that is left them before defeat, to deceive the allies with 
mock shows of "liberalization" and "federalization" of those coun- 
tries. Prince Max assures the Poles that Germany will give them a 
square deal, at the very moment when the Germans cry that they will 
never surrender Poland at Wilson's demand. The Austrian premier 
calls a few rascals together and devises a fraudulent outline of "auton- 
omy" for subject nations in the Hapsburg empire. Bulgaria fawns 
upon the allies and tries to convince them that her treachery to the 
enemy is sincere by offering to attack the Turks, now that the Turks 
are already beaten. The Turkish cabinet resigns and another set of 
scoundrels takes office, announcing that the new regime favors the 
allies, although "technically" allied to Germany. 

Vain, vain! The enemy nations are in the toils. The superiority 
of force and intelligence is with the allies. Marshal Foch and Presi- 
dent Wilson are in easy control of the two giant weapons that are 
driving to bay and smashing to pieces the world's enemy. 

[316] 



Thursdaij, October 17, 1918 

Peace Offers as War Traps 

WHATEVER the mask that covers and makes apparently- 
genuine the renewed attempt of the enemy to maneuver 
the United States into peace negotiations, the presumption 
is overwhelming that the peace overtures are purely war tactics. 
The German "government" is the Germany military organization, 
which dictates what the foreign office shall say or not say. The chan- 
cellor is still the spokesman of the war lord, and the war lord is domi- 
nated by the keener intellects and stronger wills that guide the mili- 
tary machine. 

Every peace attack from this time forth is sure to be a step 
toward the real thing — surrender without conditions. But it is the 
height of folly to assume that any peace offer will be made in good 
faith at this time which actually contemplates the unconditional sur- 
render of the German armies in the field. Let the word go out that 
Germany has "capitulated," that the emperor has abdicated, that 
there is rioting in Berlin, and so on; all these are but preludes to the 
real thing, not the thing itself. 

A prize fighter knowing in his soul that he has met his superior 
and feeling that he is losing strength, will resort to every possible 
artifice to avoid the knockout blow. Germany is a fighter who is not 
bound by any rules, and hence will use any stratagem, however base, 
if it promises advantage. No inconsistency, no shame, no reproach, 
no regard for the future restrains the criminals who are now driven 
to desperation. They will betray the German people without com- 
punction if such a course will help to extricate the military organiza- 
tion from its plight. They will promise anything, in the hope that 
subsequent treachery may show them how to violate all pledges. If 
the allies demand guarantees, they will give guarantees, as little as 
possible, and always with the intention of wriggling out of all obli- 
gations. 

The world may confidently look for specious demonstrations in 
Germany, invented for the purpose of convincing the allied nations 
that Germany has thrown off its yoke of Hohenzollernism and is 
actually governed by the people. Tempting peace offers will be 
made, ostensibly emanating from the people, but in reality conceived 
and executed by the military conspirators. One Hohenzollern is as 

[317] 



PEACE OFFERS AS WAR TRAPS 

good as another in this storm. There may be a rapid succession of 
emperors, regents and imperial councils. 

The unconditional surrender of the German army by its com- 
manding general is the only proof that will convince the world that 
Germany honestly seeks peace for peace's sake. When the white flag 
goes up and representatives of the German commander appear at Mar- 
shal Foch's headquarters to apply for the terms upon which an 
armistice will be granted with a view to surrender, there will be an 
assurance of peace. There is no reason to assume that this act will 
be performed until the German army is actually beaten. That point 
has not yet been reached. It may be brought nearer, no doubt, by 
popular uprisings in Germany, where the desire for peace is becoming 
more genuine as defeat and invasion draw nigh. But all the lessons 
of this war serve as a warning against placing confidence in the 
presumption that the German people do not and will not stand behind 
their army. 

In considering the peace rumors and proposals it is well to ask 
these questions: Can peace come out of Germany? Must it not come 
from the allies? Will not the perfidious foe, even after he surrenders 
unconditionally, commit abominable acts against the allies and delib- 
erately violate each engagement that he enters into, unless he is 
actually prevented by physical force? That is what he has done in 
every conceivable political and military situation. The Germans, in 
short, are rebels against truth and justice, so incorrigibly and incur- 
ably rebellious that they must be overpowered and shackled before 
they will desist from their acts of enmity and treachery. After desist- 
ing from the acts they are as rebellious in spirit as before. 

These people are worshipers of brute force. The faith in brute 
force, established as a religion by Frederick William, Frederick the 
Great, Bismarck and their successors, will not pass away until the 
brute force which sustains that faith has been shattered, scattered 
and brought to death. 



[318] 



Saturday, October 19, 1918 

Liberty and Its Counterfeit 

TWO official utterances appearing simultaneously today, both 
concerning Austria-Hungary, show in striking contrast the dif- 
ference between real and fraudulent freedom. Emperor Karl, 
in a manifesto which reeks of falsehood and blasphemy, pretends to 
promise the people of Austria "local autonomy." The Czecho-Slovak 
nation, through its representatives, issues its declaration of independ- 
ence — a document that is worthy to rank with the noblest expressions 
of man in aspiring to liberty. 

Emperor Karl bemoans the "obstacles which brutal force creates 
against intellectual and economic prosperity." He assures "my peo- 
ple," as he calls them, that their desires will be "harmonized and 
realized" at the conclusion of the peace which he seems to think will 
leave him on his throne. He says "I am decided to accomplish this 
work with the free collaboration of my peoples." Then he outlines 
the niggardly and counterfeit installment of freedom which he pro- 
poses to bestow as from a god upon poor benighted mankind. It is a 
poor assortment, and care is taken to deny independence to Poland. 

The "brutal force" which Emperor Karl bemoans is in fact the 
brutal tyranny of the Hohenzollern and Hapsburg dynasties. That is 
to be swept away along with the dynasties themselves. The people 
of Austria are no longer "my peoples," to be bought, sold, put to 
battle, starved and robbed of their liberties by a system of brutal 
force which has at its head a Hapsburg. "I am decided," says Em- 
peror Karl. Poor piece of inferior clay, mouthing the phrases and 
uttering the lies of a bygone and unhappy age! Humanity and God 
have decided, not emperors and chancellors; and the decision of God 
and humanity is in process of execution. Turn from the blasphemer 
who clings to the ideal of brute force and the divine rights of kings. 
Consider this utterance by the people of Bohemia: 

"We cannot and will not continue to live under the direct or 
indirect rule of the violators of Belgium, France and Serbia, the would- 
be murderers of Russia and Roumania, the murderers of tens of 
thousands of civilians and soldiers of our blood and the accomplices 
in numberless unspeakable crimes committed in this war against 
humanity by the two degenerate and irresponsible dynasties. We will 
not remain a part of a state which has no justification for existence 

[319 1 



LIBERTY AND ITS COUNTERFEIT 

and which, refusing to accept the fundamental principles of modern 
world organization, remains only an artificial and immoral political 
structure, hindering every movement toward democratic and social 
progress. The Hapsburg dynasty, weighed down by a huge inheri- 
tance of error and crime, is a perpetual menace to the peace of the 
world, and we deem it our duty toward humanity and civilization to 
aid in bringing about its downfall and destruction. 

"We reject the sacrilegious assertion that the power of the Haps- 
burg and Hohenzollern dynasties is of divine origin; we refuse to 
recognize the divine right of kings. Our nation elected the Hapsburgs 
to the throne of Bohemia of its own free will, and by the same right 
deposes them. We hereby declare the Hapsburg dynasty unworthy of 
leading our nation, and deny all of their claims to rule in the Czecho- 
slovak land, which we here and now declare shall henceforth be a free 
and independent people and nation." 

There speaks the spirit of liberty itself. It is the language which 
free peoples, everywhere and always, use and understand. America 
knows this language and extends the right hand of brotherhood to the 
free nation that is throwing off the Hapsburg yoke. 

The oppressed peoples of Jugo-Slavia are also about to receive 
their freedom, not from a Hapsburg blasphemously posing as an agent 
of God, but from the mouths of Serbian cannon and at the point of 
Serbia's sword. Within a few days the armies of King Peter will be 
in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in the Banat of Temesvar. The Serbs of 
those provinces will prefer the guarantee of the Serbian rifles to all 
the scraps of paper signed by their imperial oppressor. Once the 
Serbs have freed these frontier provinces, the release of their brothers- 
in-race, the Croats and Slovenes, will follow. The creation of a free 
and independent South Slav nation is going on, and the only persons 
in the world who are blind to the fact are the doomed Hapsburgs and 
their satellites. 



[320 



Thursday, October 24, 1918 
Nearer to Victorious Peace 

THE Hohenzollern system responsible for this war is dealt a 
stupefying and probably fatal blow by the President of the 
United States in his note published today. Its import is to this 
effect: 

Germany having said that she accepts unreservedly the Presi- 
dent's terms of peace, and that this acceptance comes from ministers 
actually representing the German people, and having given assurance 
that there will be no more violation of the rules of war, the President 
announces that he has taken up with the allies the question of an 
armistice, but with these reservations and conditions: No armistice 
will be considered which does not leave the allied powers in a position 
to enforce any arrangements entered into and which does not provide 
for the demobilization of the German army. The President has sug- 
gested to the allies that if they are disposed to consider peace with 
Germany on the terms he has outlined, they ask their military 
advisers to join the American military advisers in framing and sub- 
mitting a form of armistice whose terms shall protect the nations 
involved and insure to the allies and the United States the unre- 
stricted power to enforce the terms of peace. If from a military 
point of view an armistice is impossible, the military advisers are to 
say so. If the terms of an armistice are adopted by the allies and 
accepted by Germany, that will be the best of evidence that Germany 
intends in good faith to accept the peace that is to be imposed upon 
her. 

So much for the test of Germany's real desire for peace on the 
President's terms. If Germany will agree to put her army in a posi- 
tion where it cannot be used to resume the war, and then actually 
executes that agreement, it will be sufficient evidence that peace on 
the President's terms is at hand. If for any reason the allies do not 
see their way clear to move toward peace on the President's terms 
at this time, they have only to decline to enter into an armistice on 
military grounds. No military advantage now held over Germany, 
or any about to be gained, will be lost by the consideration of a 
possible armistice safeguarded with such conditions as are outlined. 

The President next tells the German people that he is not to be 
deceived by the false pretense that Germany has been democratized. 
He tells them that they do not yet control the military authorities of 

[321] 



NEARER TO VICTORIOUS PEACE 

the empire; that Emperor William still controls the empire's policy. 
He notifies them that the United States will not conclude peace with 
any but the veritable representatives of the German people, and then 
only if the German people are the real rulers of Germany. With the 
present masters of Germany the President says the United States 
will not negotiate, but will demand surrender. 

This notification of the settled will of the United States and the 
allies will fall like the sound of doom on the German autocracy that 
has made this war. The war makers of Germany cannot make peace, 
nor can they compel peace. If peace is to come to the Germans before 
their empire is disrupted and their land ravaged with invasion, they 
must make it themselves, by taking control of their own government 
and throwing themselves on the mercy of the allied powers. They 
must throw overboard the Hohenzollerns and must recall the military 
authorities who control the army. They must do this immediately, 
as the guns of Foch are hammering home the ultimatum of Wilson. 
The German people have no time for further quibbling. They must 
jettison the Hohenzollerns or go down with the sinking ship. They 
cannot gain anything by shouting out falsehoods to the allies, for the 
fate of the German empire hangs in the balance, and the allies will 
not hesitate to strike the last annihilating blow if the Germans delay 
in taking the peace that the allies are willing to give them. 

Once more the world is indebted to President Wilson for carrying 
the allied cause a step nearer to victorious peace. 



[322] 



Thursday, October 31, 1918 
Critical Times at Hand 

ii'T AM uneasy and apprehensive, more than during the war." 
These words, written by Jay to Washington in 1786, after the 
United States had won its independence and before it had 
formed a "more perfect union," ought to serve as a reminder to the 
allied governments of the dangers that beset them while they are 
casting about for means to make the world's liberty secure in peace. 
The critical period in American history was when the people had 
liberty and did not know what to do with it. The critical period 
of the world's history may be when it has beaten Germany and does 
not know what to do with the liberty that has been won. 

There is no need of beating about the bush concerning President 
Wilson's famous Fourteen Points. They constituted a fairly com- 
prehensive peace program at the time they were uttered, but their 
author never contended that they were all-embracing, and in the last 
few days he has notified Austria-Hungary that they are radically 
changed. The recent political upheaval in the United States has 
shown that a large proportion of the American people will insist upon 
peace terms that are not included in the Fourteen Points, and, of 
course, this public insistence will be felt in the Senate when the 
historic hour arrives for the ratification of the peace treaty or 
treaties. 

That ratification must be given by two-thirds of the Senators 
present, and therefore the two great parties must be substantially 
united in approval of the peace. Moreover, there will be little or no 
"executive session" secrecy surrounding the peace treaty, for every 
one in the- country, including President Wilson, agrees that the time 
for secret diplomacy is past. The people of the United States will 
not permit the government to commit them to any arrangement with 
Germany, even a beaten and prostrate Germany, unless the terms 
are all published in full for all men to read. 

But the attitude of the United States is only one factor of a 
problem that affects all humanity. Each of the allied nations has its 
own peace terms in reserve, to be brought out in conference. Some 
of these terms may be impossible of realization, either because of the 
objections of the other allies or because they infringe upon the rights 
of neutrals or of peoples liberated from the enemy yoke. The great 
objective of the allied governments will be justice to all, but there is 

[323] 



CRITICAL TIMES AT HAND 

good reason for uneasiness and apprehension in considering the diffi- 
culty of dealing out exact justice to the whole world in settling ques- 
tions offhand that have provoked wars for centuries. Justice is not 
quite fluid enough to be poured into a great pot, from which the 
nations may take as many ladlesful as they are entitled to, no more 
and no less. 

The unity of the allied nations in the war has been admirable. 
May it be as firm in devising peace! But the unity during the war 
has been promoted by the pressure of deadly peril threatening all 
alike. The allies have been like the staves of a barrel, upon which 
there was a common pressure that held them together. They obeyed 
one instinct, and that the strongest of all — the instinct of self-preser- 
vation. But when the war is won, and the pressure ceases, and the 
enemy lies open and exposed to punishment and exploitation, the 
unity of the allies will be subjected to a terrible test. Self-interest 
will replace self-preservation as a controlling motive, and the tendency 
will be exactly opposite to that which drew the allies together. They 
will fly apart unless they now, beforehand, agree upon the principles 
and most of the details of the peace which they are to impose upon 
the enemy. 

The time is short. The enemy is disintegrating. He is straining 
every nerve to throw the allies into a premature peace conference, 
before they have agreed among themselves upon what they want and 
what they can have. If Germany can lure the allies into a peace 
conference before the peace program is agreed upon, the probability 
is very strong that she will wriggle out unscathed, if not actually 
victorious, through the disagreements of the allies and the possible 
rupture of the entente. 

The allies owe it to the world to organize instantly a supreme 
political council, with full powers, to meet behind closed doors. They 
should place before this council, without reserve, all their individual 
peace demands. The council should do its utmost to adapt and 
reconcile these demands one with another. It should also do what no 
individual nation can do, and that is to outline the metes and bounds 
of nations about to be born. Having assembled and agreed upon all 
these peace terms the supreme council should immediately publish 
them broadcast to the world, word for word, as they are to be imposed 
upon the enemy. 

Unless some procedure like this is followed the military victories 
will catch the political departments of the allies napping, and the 
governments will be compelled to frame a makeshift peace. 

[324] 



Friday, November 1, 1918 

The Crumbling of Empires 

LIKE an eggshell the thing called Mitteleuropa is crushing in on 
_j all sides. The Hohenzollerns, Hapsburgs and Ottoman Turks 
see their empires crumble and blow to dust before the guns of 
the allies. The events of yesterday alone are sufficient to fill volumes 
of the concluding portion of the history of tyranny. Turkey and 
Austria-Hungary virtually surrendered and thereby facilitated the 
downfall of the German empire. Within a few days, from present 
prospects, the civilized nations of the earth will have the fate of 
Germany absolutely in their hands. The German people will then 
pass through the fiery ordeal of examination as to their participation 
in the horrors that have stupefied the world, as a preliminary to the 
meting out of punishment to all guilty persons and nations. 

There will be a reckoning with persons as well as with govern- 
ments. The fiends bearing human shape who drenched the world in 
blood must pay for their crimes with their own blood. "Blood will 
have blood." The civilized nations, acting for humanity, are the 
agents of God. They will deal out the vengeance that belongs to God. 

Humanity rejoices in the news from Italy, following upon that 
from France, Belgium, Serbia, Palestine and Mesopotamia. The 
enslaved are made free by the valor of their compatriots. Italy's 
sudden offensive has developed on an enormous scale, employing in 
various ways at least 2,000,000 men against a still larger Austro- 
Hungarian force. The Italian forces actively engaged number nearly 
1,300,000, and the allied contingents assisting the Italians number 
about 100,000. There are more Italians in France than there are 
allies, all combined, in Italy. Therefore the credit for Italy's wonder- 
ful overthrow of Austria belongs principally to Italy herself. 

The beginning of the Italian offensive was modestly described as 
a local operation, and for several days the Italian public was unaware 
of the tremendous sweep of their army across the Piave toward the 
Tagliamento and northward into the mountains. Apparently the 
Austrian forces are cut in two by the taking of Ponte nella Alpi. At 
any rate, the enemy is demoralized, beaten, and desperately endeavor- 
ing to retreat. The request for an armistice has been refused, very 
properly, and it would not be surprising if the Austrian retreat should 
become a panic flight, worse than the Italian break at Caporetto a 

[325] 



THE CRUMBLING OF EMPIRES 

year ago. The Italians fell back upon a united nation, while the 
Austrians are falling back upon starvation, revolution and anarchy. 

The reports from the interior of Austria, while they must be 
taken with some reserve, are doubtless faithful indications of the 
anarchy to come. Foreign Minister Lammasch's statement in the 
reichsrath concerning the army is most significant. He virtually 
expresses the fear that army discipline will collapse and that the 
soldiers will come back from the front a howling and starving mob. 
In that case the anarchy that prevails in Russia would be mild in 
comparison, for the Russians are saved from the horrors of race 
massacres which are sure to come if the peoples of Austria-Hungary 
once escape from the iron hand of the central government. In the 
meantime the skeleton of the Vienna government is vainly trying to 
arrange an armistice and throw itself upon the mercy of the allied 
powers. So much for the Hapsburgs. 

As for Turkey, the world cannot but rejoice at the developments 
which are the forerunners of unconditional surrender. The entire 
Turkish force opposing the British army on the Tigris has been 
captured; the British forces are within 40 miles of Mosul, and Turkey 
has signed an armistice which opens up the Dardanelles to the allied 
fleets. 

There is a strong allied naval force in the iEgean, the Adriatic 
and the Mediterranean. This force can now take command of the 
Black Sea and the ports of Odessa and Constanza. Within a few 
days the foundation of force and fraud which Germany laid at Brest- 
Litovsk and Bucharest will be blasted away by the guns of the allied 
fleets. Germany's hectic dream of absorbing Russia passes away, 
while Roumania's nightmare of bondage is succeeded by a glad 
awakening. Allied troops are even now on Roumanian soil. Within 
a few days or weeks a Roumanian force should be in Transylvania 
and Bukowina, taking over that part of the now obsolete Austro- 
Hungarian empire which belongs to the kingdom of Roumania. As 
for Ukrainia, the people of that so-called republic need not organize 
further to repel the German hordes seeking wheat. The Germans will 
have business elsewhere when the allied fleet appears at Odessa. 

Thus from every side the monstrous growth of blood and tyranny 
called Mitteleuropa collapses before the guns of civilization, and one 
nation after another leaps to freedom. Let the great nations keep 
their hands off the armies and the fleets! Let the flags go forward, 
without parley or armistice! Let the guns batter a pathway through 
enemy ruins for the sword of vengeance ! 

[326] 



Tuesday, November 12, 1918 
The Triumph of Right 

THE greatest conflict in the history of the world came to an end 
yesterday morning at 6 o'clock. At that hour the guns, which 
had never ceased to thunder for 1,567 days, fired their last salvo 
into the ranks of the beaten enemy. 

That Germany is beaten, utterly and completely beaten beyond 
all cavil, is clear from the text of the armistice she was forced to sign. 
No such protocol of defeat was ever subscribed to by an army in the 
field. The mightiest military power the world has ever seen has been 
beaten to its knees. It is a military defeat in the strictest sense of 
the world. 

Not a shred of prestige, no means of "saving its face" has been 
left to its supreme command. It has to pass under the Caudine Forks 
erected by outraged civilization. Its arrogant war lord and his eldest 
son are in ignominious flight; the score of monarchs and ruling princes, 
his confederates, have lost their thrones, while his paladins, on whom 
he counted to break the world to his will, stand today, with their 
armies, before a shameful surrender. 

One by one, the inexorable clauses of the text of the armistice 
strip Germany of every shred of conquest. Her armies are disarmed, 
her territory occupied, her plunder in money and material wrested 
from her. Her high-sea fleet, the proud creation of half a century 
of effort, will, in a few days, be in the hands of her adversaries. 

In no country and at no epoch was such a well-deserved humilia- 
tion ever inflicted on any great power. The treaties she entered into 
when her triumph was at its zenith are declared to be "scraps of 
paper," torn up and scattered to every wind that blows. 

In the field the triumph of the allies is complete. What fate 
reserves for them in the domain of policy and diplomacy no one can 
foresee. Revolution is sweeping with giant strides over the empire, 
and today extends from Koenigsburg to the Lake of Constance. One 
of the most curious features of the revolution is its centrifugal tend- 
ency. One state after another is breaking away from the empire and 
proclaiming itself a separate republic. This tendency shows how 
strong is the survival of the particularist feeling in Germany. It may 
also be due to a desire on the part of the individual states to disso- 

[327] 



THE TRIUMPH OF RIGHT 



ciate themselves from the crimes committed by the imperial govern- 
ment. 

If the movement persists, it can only have disastrous effects, as 
it would mean repudiation of the colossal war debt accumulated by 
the central authority, entailing national bankruptcy. It will further 
place the allies in an embarrassing position, as it will deprive them 
of any authority with which they can discuss the final terms of 
peace and reparation. 

The only concrete fact helping to make for a settlement is the 
occupation by the allied armies of Alsace-Lorraine and the valley 
of the Rhine. This territory will be the only thing stable in the 
tempest-tossed empire. It remains to be seen if the allies will be able 
to limit their action to this occupation, or if the threatened chaos and 
anarchy will not constrain them to further action. 

So far as one can judge, the new government has met with no 
serious opposition. The report that Field Marshal von Hindenburg 
(who seems to have preserved some remnant of prestige in the general 
debacle) has offered to place the army at the disposal of the Ebert gov- 
ernment may afford some guarantee that the country will be saved 
from anarchy. At the same time reports that thousands of soldiers 
are deserting and making their way home show that the much- 
vaunted Prussian discipline has completely broken down. 

Under these circumstances the Hindenburg offer may turn out to 
be a broken reed. Everything now depends on the influence and 
authority which the socialist leaders possess with the masses. If 
this proves to be an illusion, the world will be face to face with a 
bolshevik outbreak more terrible than that of Russia, because it will 
be more intelligent. Its chief ally will be the widespread misery the 
German empire is facing. 

A country which is just awakening to the collapse of its dream of 
world dominion and finds itself face to face with the reality of com- 
plete and humiliating defeat, is capable of any act of madness. 
Every country that has a common frontier with Germany must now 
prepare to localize the most formidable national explosion the world 
has ever seen and prevent its disastrous effects spreading on to their 
territory. 



[328] 



Saturday, November 16, 1918 

Let the Enemy Starve First 

THE Germans are drawing a little too heavily upon the abundant 
store of American credulity and magnanimity when they ask 
Americans to regard them as genuine converts to democracy, 
deeply offended victims of their late militaristic rulers and especially 
deserving of the fatted calf of forgiveness. If the German women 
who are appealing to American women for special favors would kindly 
hold aloof until some evidence is forthcoming that the German nation 
is not still a rapacious wolf, harmless only because overpowered, there 
might be a better chance for them in the forthcoming drastic rationing 
of the world. 

The German people's conversion is too sudden and too voluble to 
be convincing. Four years of accumulated proof of savage delight in 
atrocious crimes and robberies cannot be wiped out by a week or two 
of internal disorders and declamations on the beauties of democracy. 
The truth is that the German people supported their imperial assassin 
of nations until his murder machinery was smashed and Germany in 
danger of invasion. Then they affected a change of heart. Probably 
they will change their form of government. Very good; so a man can 
change his coat. But the leopard cannot change his spots, and the 
German people cannot convince their victims in other nations that 
they have become humanized overnight. There is so little repentance 
visible; so little real evidence of a change of heart. The voice that 
goes up from Germany is one of regret, but not for crimes committed. 
It is regret that victory was not achieved — that France and Belgium 
and the other allied nations were not put in a position to be exploited 
to the utmost. 

When any American is inclined to go out of his way to exhibit 
his generosity toward the German people, let him reflect a moment 
upon what those people would have exacted of France, England and 
Italy if the kaiser had been victorious. Let him glance at what was 
done in Belgium and Serbia, and what was prepared to be done in 
Russia. Let him bear in mind that the German people profited greatly 
in the looting of allied countries, and that no voice in Germany was 
raised against the robbing of allied countries to feed Germans. 

It is not for the purpose of advocating a brutal or cruel policy 
toward the German people that these remarks are made. Two wrongs 

[329] 



LET THE ENEMY STARVE FIRST 

do not make a right, and it is not in the nature of Americans to rejoice 
in the calamities of their neighbors. But it is the nature of Americans 
to be entirely too generous to a beaten foe. The tendency is not 
toward retribution and reprisal, but toward an excessive generosity 
which, unless checked by common sense, swiftly runs into a combina- 
tion of maudlin slobber and boastful charity. The quality of mercy 
deteriorates into something that degrades both the giver and the 
receiver. 

The German people deserve no tenderness at the hands of Ameri- 
cans or any other of the allied peoples. They do deserve justice. It 
has been wisely said recently by a prominent American that mercy 
without justice is even more injurious than justice without mercy. 

Justice should be observed in dealing with the German people. 
But the other peoples deserve justice also. The peoples of the allied 
nations, who have suffered at the hands of the German government 
and people, should have more generosity extended to them than to 
the German people. If that is not justice, then the allies are allies 
to no purpose, and righteousness is not worthy of reward. 

The world will soon be on famine rations. There need be no 
doubt that millions of individuals are doomed to die of hunger. The 
best that the civilized nations can do will not enable them to reach all 
the stricken ones. If the German people had sooner quit their effort 
to rob other nations, there would have been a chance to produce more 
food this year. Now the world's millions must get along with what 
they have. Are the Belgians and the French and the Russians and 
the Roumanians to be starved in order that the Germans must be 
fed? That question is now before the allied governments, and it will 
be before the allied peoples before another month. 

The German people see the specter of famine and are howling 
already. The allied peoples are not quite so quick to howl, but the 
United States of America will be a devil of ingratitude, a murderer 
comparable to William Hohenzollern himself, if it diverts to the 
Germans any food that is necessary to keep the peoples of allied 
nations from starving to death. 



[330] 



Sunday, November 17, 1918 
Watch the Enemy 

IS IT not a little premature for Americans to celebrate peace with 
Germany? Are they sure that the wild beast is tamed as well as 

shackled? The proposition to feed Germany, because Germany 
appears to be reformed and harmless, is certainly startling. There 
should be some more convincing evidence of Germany's reformation 
before the people of the United States begin to expend their sympathy 
upon the people who but lately were celebrating the slaughter of 
women and children. 

The Russians are natural friends of Americans, and now the 
Russian people by millions are facing death by starvation. Where 
is the agonizing wail for them? Where is the Dr. Solf who appeals 
frantically for food for the Russians? Russia was one of the allies, 
and despite the devilish schemes of the Germans and the bolsheviki, 
Russia is still at heart friendly to America and determined to find the 
road to ordered liberty. Yet even in Russia there is war, and Ameri- 
can soldiers may be in that country for many months before peace 
is finally attained. If the Germans are successful in some of their 
plans, the Russian bolsheviki will make Russia a caldron of hellbroth 
for years to come. The allied troops are there to aid the Russians to 
extricate themselves from the net of the Germans. But the bolsheviki 
are such a stubborn combination of stupidity, malevolence and trea- 
son, and the opportunities for German intrigue are so numerous, that 
the allies are badly handicapped in their work of reconstruction in 
Russia. 

Who is so confident of the genuineness of German reform that he 
can assert that the Germans have ceased their propaganda in Russia? 
Who can show that the Germans are actually, in good faith, preparing 
to move out of Russia, bag and baggage? For one piece of superficial 
evidence indicating that the Germans are reconciled to the loss of 
Russia, there can be brought a dozen pieces of absolute proof that 
powerful German interests are at this moment hurriedly extending 
their grasp in Russia, with no visible intention of complying with the 
terms of the armistice, in letter or in spirit. Under the disguise of 
individual action, under financial transactions apparently innocent, 
the Germans are rapidly absorbing all that is worth while in Russia. 

Before jumping to the conclusion that the present armistice 
necessarily means immediate satisfactory peace with the enemy, it 

[331] 



WATCH THE ENEMY 



should be borne in mind that during the last four years every official 
act of the persons representing Germany in any capacity has been 
an act of fraud, evasion, falsehood and crime. Germany has built up 
a standard of consistent dishonor that cannot be destroyed in a 
moment. The world has paid a terrible price in life and property for 
the lesson it was forced to learn — the lesson that Germany was desti- 
tute of honor of word or deed. Is that lesson now to be forgotten, 
merely because the Germans take on the appearance of a free people 
and send out frantic appeals for food? How free are they, and how 
comes it that they are free? Why are they hungry? If they should 
see a chance to deal a treacherous blow, would the change of govern- 
ment stop them? If they could rob other peoples of food, would they 
not do it? Their appeal itself has in it a ruthless selfishness that 
gives no heed to the greater sufferings of nations that they lately 
ravaged. 

Bolshevism may work havoc in Germany. One of the arguments 
advanced in favor of granting succor to the Germans is that it will 
save them from bolshevism and thus enable them to establish ordered 
government and go ahead with the work of repaying their debt to 
nations they outraged. That is a plausible argument — so plausible, 
indeed, that it may have been made in Germany. Certainly the Ger- 
mans will not be slow to utilize it, and perhaps at this moment the 
dumb show of "anarchy" and "red guards" in Germany is staged to 
frighten the allies into a ready release of food cargoes. 

The Germans are capable of any kind of treachery. They will 
turn bolshevists if it suits their purpose, or they will squelch the red 
guards within an hour if there is something to be gained at the expense 
of other countries. In the meantime it is only prudent to scrutinize 
everything emanating from Germany and to resolve all doubts in 
favor of the allies and against the Germans. If the German people 
suffer because of this attitude of skepticism, they have only them- 
selves to blame. They have taught the world to be cautious in deal- 
ing with the wild beast that called itself Germany. 



[332 



Tuesday, November 19, 1918 
The Making of Peace 

NO GREATER or more complicated task was ever undertaken by 
man than that which has been assumed by the allied nations 
in the hope of establishing democracy in permanent peace. 
The difficulties of the war are small compared with the difficulties 
of the peace that is sought. Much time must necessarily elapse 
before the desired condition can be attained, even if all the allied 
nations rise to the noblest heights of altruism and concord, and even 
if their representatives should be endowed with wisdom similar to 
that exercised by the framers of the Constitution of the United 
States. 

The combination of Hohenzollernism and militarism in Ger- 
many has been broken. That is an enormous step toward universal 
democracy and peace. But Hohenzollernism alone may not be utterly 
destroyed, nor militarism alone. It is quite possible that one of the 
Hohenzollerns may head a successful counter-revolution in Ger- 
many. There will be no assurance of the harmlessness of the Hohen- 
zollerns until they are corpses or so securely isolated that they can- 
not communicate with the outside world, or the world with them. 
As for militarism, that may be anything but dead in Germany. The 
German army is still a formidable force, falling back upon German 
soil, where it may be capable of reorganization under a popular 
leader. The German instinct of organization may operate with re- 
markable results in the rehabilitation of the German military power. 
It is more likely to work toward centralization and militarism than 
in the other direction. In the revolutionary movement in Germany 
there is a method that was totally lacking in the Russian convulsion. 

Is Germany liberalized, free from Hohenzollernism and mili- 
tarism and responsible for any engagements that may be made by 
its government? That is the question that must be answered in the 
affirmative before the allied powers will be justified in relaxing their 
military vigilance over Europe. If the German revolution is genuine, 
it may be entirely too successful; it may transform Germany into a 
howling anarchy, in which case the allied armies would be com- 
pelled to occupy the country throughout its length and breadth. If 
the revolution is a mere gust of passion or a Hohenzollern subterfuge, 
then Germany is not really free, and the engagements of its repre- 
sentatives in making peace would be worthless. No doubt many 

[333] 



THE MAKING OF PEACE 

months will elapse before the world will know the true nature of Ger- 
many's apparent reorganization. 

The adjustment of all relations with Germany is only one of 
the tasks of the allied powers. There are new nations to be dealt 
with and old nations to be fitted to new conditions and new boundaries. 
Neutrals are involved. These neutrals will try to take part in the 
peace deliberations, but they should be admitted only as witnesses, 
to present their respective cases. They have no right to sit on the 
bench of judgment. They did not win this war, and therefore they 
must remain aloof in the making of peace. The allied powers were 
the sole reliance of mankind in the time of stress. They were good 
enough as barriers against the universal enemy of liberty. The 
neutrals were perfectly willing that the allies should sacrifice 
themselves for the life of all, neutrals included. By making this 
sacrifice the allies became trustees of civilization and guardians of 
liberty. They must now make secure for all time the liberty which 
they fought to preserve. The work is incomplete. The trustees 
cannot honorably quit their work until it is finished. Nor can they 
honorably shift the responsibility to others whose devotion to liberty 
was not sufficient to take them to the battlefield. Liberty is too 
priceless a jewel to be intrusted to those who will not shed their 
blood to guard it. 

Thus the so-called peace conference will be in reality a council 
of the allied powers, faithfully executing the trust that they have 
assumed. Germany cannot be one of the trustees, no matter how 
thoroughly the people may have reformed their government. The 
wolf cannot be made shepherd, even if it wears sheep's clothing. 
The newly born nations will be heard, but they cannot properly par- 
ticipate as principals in a council that is to define the boundaries of 
European nations. They will not be full-fledged nations, in fact, until 
the council has perfected its work. 

It is the dream of exalted souls that the peace council will de- 
velop into a league of nations, open to all honorable free nations on 
equal terms, and powerful enough to compel any nation or group 
of nations to keep the peace in spite of any quarrel that may arise. 
A magnificent, a glorious dream! May it be realized; but if the 
peace council should accomplish the drudgery that actually confronts 
it, by clearing away the rubbish heaps of tyranny and giving the 
peoples of Europe a fair opportunity to govern themselves perma- 
nently according to their own will, it will have done a marvelous 
thing. 

[334] 



Saturday, November 30, 1918 

The League of Nations 

THERE are many variations in detail in the ambitious and 
idealistic project which is called the "league of nations," but, 
broadly speaking, the league is conceived to be a voluntary 
combination of honest and well meaning nations, each of them con- 
tributing some of its sovereignty and strength to a common agency 
which would operate under direction of the league, to compel war- 
like nations to abandon aggression and accept the arbitrament of 
an international tribunal in the adjustment of their grievances. The 
usual method of bringing recalcitrant nations into line would be 
persuasion, but if this failed, the league of nations would use force. 
The league would seek to diminish the probabilities of war by agreeing 
to a scheme of reduction of land and sea armaments with a view to 
the eventual complete disarmament of all nations. No quarrel or 
dispute arising in the intercourse of nations would be outside the 
jurisdiction of the tribunal to be set up and made potent by the 
league. 

What a marvelous and majestic spectacle would be presented by 
the successful working of this plan! Mankind would rise instantly 
to the stature of demigods. Most of the ills that afflict the world 
would disappear forthwith. The immense drain of war and war's 
evils would be stopped, and science would turn to the last foe of 
humanity — ignorance — with a fair prospect of driving it from earth. 
Disease would be diminished. Poverty would be superseded by gen- 
eral comfort. Famine would be unknown. The hours of labor would 
be reduced throughout the world. Liberal education would be well- 
nigh universal, with consequent improvement of morals and individual 
well-being. Prodigious sums of money would be available for the 
conquest of nature in behalf of humanity, thereby causing the deserts 
to become rose gardens and clover farms; the mountains would be 
disemboweled of their treasures; palaces would rise in magically 
beautiful cities, and transportation to all parts of the world would 
be made easy and cheap. 

It is greatly to the honor of all concerned that the project for 
a league of nations is to be taken up for practical study at the forth- 
coming peace conference. The world prays for an end of wars and 
will yield much for that desired end. The question now is whether 
the nations have reached that stage of unselfish and enlightened wis- 

[335] 



THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 

dom and mutual confidence which is the indispensable condition pre- 
cedent to the formation of a league of nations. 

Is the United States prepared to share with other nations the 
right to prescribe the size of the United States army and navy? Is it 
ready to agree to submit to an international tribunal any dispute with 
any other nation whatever, no matter how closely the question touches 
the national interest or honor? Is the United States ready to sup- 
plant the Monroe doctrine with an agreement which authorizes 
European monarchies and empires to share in the protection of de- 
mocracies in this hemisphere? Is the United States ready to com- 
mit itself to a policy which might call upon it for military and naval 
operations in suppressing wars anywhere in Europe, Asia, and Africa, 
or upon any sea? These are direct and practical questions which must 
be answered one way or the other within the next few months. If 
answered in the affirmative, this country at least will stand ready to 
join a league of nations. 

These questions are so vitally important and so deeply affecting 
every American citizen and his posterity that no administration and 
no Congress has the right or power to answer them. The people 
alone have the right and power to answer them. These questions 
affect and modify the Constitution, which is the only expression of 
the people and which cannot be changed without their consent. Before 
the United States of America yields any part of its absolute sov- 
ereignty to any combination or league of nations for any purpose, 
however noble, the people of the United States must be consulted. 
Therefore it is quite evident that any league of nations formed at the 
forthcoming peace conference would have to be held in abeyance 
in America until the people could express their will. Membership in a 
league of nations would require the recasting of the government of 
the United States, a feat that cannot be performed by the government 
itself, but only by its creator and master, the people. 

Fortunately for the world the allied nations can arrange for and 
secure peace and freedom without depending upon the creation of 
an ideal league of nations. 



[336] 



Tuesday, December 3, 1918 

The People Reserve Judgment 

FOR good or ill, President Wilson leaves for Europe without the 
united support of the American people. It is not so much that 
some of the people are opposed to Mr. Wilson's plans as it is 
that they are ignorant of them. He had an opportunity yesterday to 
take Congress and the people into his confidence on the all-important 
subjects comprised under the head of peace plans, but he did not 
choose to discuss the matter. Consequently, while Congress and the 
people have only the best of wishes for Mr. Wilson in the fateful 
journey that he is about to take, they reserve judgment, as they 
must do in the absence of information, on the matters with which 
he will have to deal. They are familiar with the "fourteen points," 
as are all the allied and enemy nations, in principle; but between the 
principle and the application of the principle to distracted and dis- 
organized Europe there is a world of room for difference of opinion, 
or even for bitterness and estrangement. 

No other American has ever assumed quite as heavy a load of 
responsibility as Mr. Wilson has assumed in going to Europe. At 
least, the responsibility shouldered by others has not been so pregnant 
with big consequence. It was not at the suggestion of the people 
that the President decided to go abroad. In fact, the people were 
at once disquieted by the news of his decision; and it was most nat- 
ural that they should eagerly await his statement of intentions in 
representing them so intimately in an errand so vitally affecting them. 
They expected from him an outline, at least, of his views, and upon 
his statement of them they would have gone far to acquiesce in his 
views, even if they seemed somewhat Utopian, for the sake of showing 
a united front to Europe. 

Instead of discussing this subject, the President chose to discuss 
the railroad question and other domestic subjects, which, however 
interesting they may be, are necessarily subordinate to the over- 
shadowing plan of arranging the world's peace. Thus the public must 
remain in the dark concerning Mr. Wilson's specific ideas; and being 
in the dark, the people will be extremely cautious before they commit 
themselves. 

When the President goes into conference with the executive heads 
of the larger allied governments he will find that each of them is 

[337] 



THE PEOPLE RESERVE JUDGMENT 

supported like a stone wall by the people of his country. Mr. Lloyd 
George has shrewdly called an election for December 15 in order 
to receive fresh from the British people a mandate to stand firmly for 
the interests of the British empire in the peace negotiations. Premier 
Clemenceau is the living voice of France, and France's aims are 
thoroughly understood by every Frenchman. Premier Orlando is 
backed by the people of Italy in a clear-cut program. Thus each 
of these leaders enjoys what Mr. Wilson now lacks; that is, the 
united and sympathetic support of all the people in putting forth a 
clear-cut national program. 

Mr. Wilson unquestionably looms far above any other statesman 
in expressing the aspirations of the free and freed peoples of the 
world. His opinions will have immense weight in the preliminary 
conferences, notwithstanding the fact that the allied premiers are 
not under any illusions concerning American politics. They are as 
well aware as anybody that Mr. Wilson was unfortunate at the 
November election and that his spokesmanship for America is there- 
fore impaired. But they are quite ready to yield him the first place 
as spokesman of the enlightened sentiment of the world. It is only 
when specific peace arrangements begin to be considered that the allied 
statesmen will be slow to yield in matters directly affecting their 
national interests. 

The variety of questions covered by the peace negotiations will 
be so great, and their importance so transcendent, that the people 
of the United States cannot refrain from exercising their own judg- 
ment, to the best of their ability, before they place themselves un- 
reservedly in the hands of their ambassador. They would have exer- 
cised their judgment more fully if they had had more information. 
If Mr. Wilson's power in the conferences should be lacking because 
of the lack of consolidated national support, it will not be entirely 
because of political differences in this country, but partly because 
the people do not know Mr. Wilson's intentions. 



[338] 



day. December 22. 1918 

The Real and the Ideal 

THE American people have great confidence in the practical 
wisdom of President Wilson, as well as admiration for his 
idealism. The people depend upon him to represent America 
faithfully in helping to bring about as soon as possible a safe and 
completely victorious peace with Germany and Austria-Hungary. 
The people also hope for an arrangement between civilized nations 
which will abolish war. but if such an arrangement cannot be per- 
fected at this time, they will nevertheless demand such a peace 
as will make a German-made war impossible. The American people 
are not misled by the twaddle that emanates from Paris at this time. 
They know that President Wilson is misrepresented by some of his 
fool friends. He is not making any boasts that he can upset the 
French government, or that he has more influence with the British 
people than the British government itself can wield. 

Aa the situation becomes more distinct it is evident that hopes 
for an immediate peace or hopes for an ideal league of nations must 
be abandoned. Both cannot be had within the next few months. The 
world will be lucky, indeed, if it secures a state of peace in Germany 
and Russia within the next year or two. By devoting their attention 
strictly to measures for securing peace the allies may be fortunate 
enough to forestall a bad relapse from the convalescence that seemed 
to be in progress, but they need not expect to see any improvement 
if they set aside realities and take up the project of a league of 
nations in the ideal form that is usually outlined. 

Germany made "peace" with Russia. Where is that peace now? 
The allies have torn the treaty of Brest-Litovsk into shreds, or they 
think they have. And yet German agents are operating in Russia, 
organizing the Russians into military forces and arming them with 
German rifles. The bolsheviki are increasing in numbers and will 
surely destroy the Czecho-Slovak army unless the allies send re- 
inforcements. The treaty of Brest-Litovsk is in force, notwithstand- 
ing the terms of the armistice of Senlis. Germany controls Russia, 
and Russia is becoming more dangerous to the peace of Europe every- 
day. 

Evidently something more than an armistice is necessary — some- 
thing more than one of Germany's promises. What is it? What can 

[339] 



THE REAL AND THE IDEAL 

it be but the application of brute force, in the shape of the allied 
armies, compelling the Germans to do the allies' will? There is 
much to be done by the allied armies before the allied governments 
can frame a peace treaty that will be worth the paper it is written 
upon. 

When Russia became unable to make war she became unable 
to make peace. The "peace" with Germany was nothing but the 
taking over of Russia by Germany. Now Germany is unable to 
make war against the allies, and she cannot make peace at once, 
either. At any rate, the German people must pass through a season 
of turmoil and irresponsibility before they can evolve a government 
capable of making engagements and tangible enough to be held re- 
sponsible for keeping the kind of peace which the allies will impose. 
During this interim there can be no certain peace between the Ger- 
man people and other peoples, because there is no one to contract 
for the German people. There will be only a form of order, not 
peace, established in Germany by the allied armies. How long will 
this interim last? No one can answer that question. It has lasted 
nearly two years in Russia. Some enthusiasts think it will last only 
a few days in Germany, but they bring nothing to give warrant for 
their optimism. On the contrary, conditions in Germany are more 
confused than ever, and history testifies that revolutions grow worse 
before they grow better. 

Russia must be made safe. Do the allies imagine that they 
can command the waves to be still merely by signing a piece of paper? 
Either Russia must be stabilized or Europe must remain unstabilized. 
The Germans must be thrown out of Russia, and their hold upon 
that country must be broken. That is one of the preliminaries to 
a league of nations, for the allies cannot be so insane as to attempt 
to organize a league of nations while one of their number is a raving 
maniac, in charge of a murderer who is himself rapidly developing 
insanity. 

Shackle the murderer. Put the maniac in a safe condition. Es- 
tablish order. Extricate the world from its imminent dangers. Then 
there will be some safety and some calmness in which to discuss 
ideal projects for abolishing war. 



340 



Monday, December 23, 1918 

No Super sovereign Wanted 

EUROPE will do well to heed the warning that has gone from 
the United States Senate, and particularly from the lips of 
Senators Lodge and Knox. Americans are delighted with the 
welcome that has been accorded to President Wilson, and deeply 
appreciate the warm feeling that inspires that welcome. Neverthe- 
less, Americans do not unanimously indorse certain projects that 
President Wilson seems to be trying to accomplish in Europe. If 
necessary the people will reject and repudiate any arrangement that 
attempts to make the United States a member of a league of nations 
sovereign over the United States. The United States will not ac- 
knowledge any sovereign except its own people. The fact should 
be thoroughly understood in Europe. 

The United States Senate will reject any treaty that subordi- 
nates the free sovereign will of the United States to any league of 
nations. 

Probably there will be no occasion for the rejection of such 
a treaty, for it is difficult to imagine that Great Britain or France 
would become members of any league that assumed sovereignty over 
them. Each of the great nations of the earth will retain its own 
independence and complete sovereignty. 

It is well "that the peoples of France and England should know 
that the people of the United States stand with them in opposing 
any proposition which threatens to destroy their sovereign will within 
their respective countries. 

The necessary result of this fixed opposition will be the aban- 
donment of the idea of an all-sovereign league of nations, and either 
the creation of an ineffective league or no league at all. The latter 
course would be preferable. 

It is a condition and not a theory that confronts the world. The 
duty of the victorious nations is to abolish the present war, before 
indulging in schemes to abolish all future wars. 

If the enemy should work with really diabolical cunning, he 
could not invent a plan more surely calculated to divide the allies 
and frustrate their efforts to fasten the shackles of retributive peace 
on Germany than to propose that the allies should first sit down and 
try to elaborate and agree upon an ideal league of nations empowered 
to abolish war. 

[341] 



NO SUPERSOVEREIGN WANTED 

The former Emperor of Russia in 1898 proposed that the nations 
should meet and try to agree upon the reduction of armaments. They 
met at The Hague and worked faithfully for many months. They 
failed. Several years later they met again and renewed their efforts. 
Again they failed. The force and virtue of a true compact to abolish 
war were all extracted from the spineless and toothless conventions 
that were finally signed. And it was not Germany only that baffled 
the desire to abolish w r ar. Other nations were stumbling blocks, 
notably the United States, which reserved certain sovereign rights, 
including the right to enforce the Monroe doctrine. 

The peace conferences at The Hague were held at a time of 
universal peace, when the passions of nations were laid. If the 
nations could not then in calmness agree upon a program of reduc- 
tion of armaments, how can it be expected that they will now agree, 
even after prolonged conference? No nation dares to strip itself of 
arms. The only safety for the civilized nations lies in forcibly strip- 
ping Germany of her arms and her means of arming. That is the 
first and most direct road to universal peace. If the allies cannot 
do that much, they need not bother about framing a scheme of uni- 
versal peace, for they will never accomplish the great if they cannot 
accomplish the small. 

There is dire necessity for early peace in Europe. The lives of 
millions depend upon early resumption of labor that will produce 
food. In the limits of the German empire are enormous stores of 
plunder that belongs to Belgians, Frenchmen, Serbians, Roumanians, 
Italians and Russians. These individuals and communities are suf- 
fering because they have been deprived of the means of livelihood. 
The allied armies are the only power that can go in, search out, seize 
upon and restore these masses of stolen goods. One of the first 
tasks before the peace conference is, not the creation of an ideal 
world-policing league of nations, but the effectual recovery of stolen 
property. The thieving Germans must be made to disgorge. 

The allies must restore order. It is idle to talk of peace while two 
nations like Russia and Germany are holding ghost dances of bolshe- 
vism. Under the spell of this mania, either country or both may run 
amuck and precipitate new wars. The allied armies must hold the 
whip hand over both countries until their peoples can evolve stable 
governments. 



[342] 



Tuesday, December 24, 1918 

Fourteen Sea Points 

THE project of a league of nations is so comprehensive and it 
involves so many questions that it is impossible in brief space 
to do more than touch upon superficial aspects of the subject. 
President "Wilson has not done more than that. Few writers have 
gone into the subject thoroughly, and indeed they have difficulty in 
doing so, because of the protean nature of the project and the im- 
movable obstacles which stand in the way of almost any form of 
league that would be really effective if created. 

The freedom of the seas has been suggested as a great objective, 
which could only be reached by means of a league of nations. Who 
knows what "freedom of the seas" means? Apparently it means 
one thing to the Germans and another to the British nation, and still 
another to Americans. But assuming that this loose term is really 
intended to cover a set of reforms whereby the "square deal" would 
be insured during war, a few ideas may be set forth as possibly com- 
ing within the scope of the desired reform. Let them be called the 
fourteen sea points. 

1. Abolish former requirements as to effectiveness of blockade. 
The present war has abolished them in fact. 

2. Retain the belligerent right of visit and search. That is a 
right which the United States would not wish to relinquish. 

3. Abolish all lists of contraband of war. The present war has 
shown that everything is contraband. 

4. Make good prize everything bound to or from enemy ports — 
ships, cargoes, personnel and mails. This is a corollary of the rule 
abolishing contraband lists. 

5. Everything in neutral ships, bound from neutral ports to 
neutral ports, to be free. It must be subject to visit and search, but 
may not be seized if neutral in character and neutral bound. 

6. Neutral trading with the enemy on shore to be a cause of 
war. There is no possibility of blockading such traffic, or capturing 
it. But a belligerent should be justified in making war on a neutral 
that trades with his enemy. 

7. Neutral sea trading with the enemy not to be a cause of 
war. because such traffic is subject to rule 4. 

8. Extend the territorial waters to a distance of 20 sea miles 

r 343 1 



FOURTEEN SEA POINTS 

off the open coast. The "three-mile limit" is an absurdity with 
modern guns and submarines. 

9. Where national boundaries occur on straits and bays less 
than 40 sea miles across, let the boundary lie in mid-strait, not in 
deepest water. 

10. Captors must provide for the safety of personnel after sur- 
render. This must apply to combatants and noncombatants. 

11. Questions of taking captured personnel aboard a warship 
as a safety measure to be determined. The taking of personnel 
aboard a German submarine continuing its raids was anything but 
a true safety measure. 

12. Make it an act of piracy for a submarine to enter and pass 
submerged under the waters of any nation neutral in war or foreign 
to the submarine in time of peace. The extreme danger of such 
unseen entry and passage and the impossibility of protecting commerce 
require absolute prohibition of submerged trespass under penalty 
of death. 

13. All armed ships to be combatant ships. 

14. All hospital and Red Cross ships to be free from attack 
under all circumstances. 

There is an example of what might be deemed by many ship- 
masters as a fair set of rules insuring the freedom of the seas. These 
rules are fair to belligerents, and they are also fair to neutrals. The 
United States, during the world war, has been both a neutral and a 
belligerent, and therefore it has reason to beware of any commit- 
ment which would unduly or unfairly restrict its liberty of action on 
the sea in either character. 

There is no restriction in these fourteen points against the legiti- 
mate use of sea power in war by any nation. There is, however, an 
enlargement, or rather a clarification, of the rights of neutrals to carry 
on innocent trade in spite of a state of war. That is a step toward 
real freedom of the seas. During the present war neutrals have un- 
doubtedly had their sea freedom curtailed by the belligerents in 
matters not even remotely connected with the war. 

Will these rules be adopted? Probably not. It is not judicious 
to indulge in the hope of an early agreement by the nations on such 
subjects. The maritime nations met in London some years ago and 
drew up a declaration of sea rules, but many of these rules were 
brushed aside at the very beginning of this war. With nations, as 
with individuals, survival is the first necessity. 

[344] 



Wednesday, December 25, 1918 
The Day of Peace 

CHRISTMAS! The morning of the nativity of the Prir. 
Peace! What a world, what a sorry world, is that 

swings this day under the mi. - iriour! If He were 

to judge by app< as men do, He would hardly deem this 

world worthy of all the love and sacrifice which He . I upon 

it. To mankind the progress toward real good ms inter- 

minably long and the path more thorny than ever. It is true that 
men have ceased for the main part to clutch at one another's thr - 
and the rivers of blood have dwindled to rivulets, but the world is full 
of unrest and rumors of new broils. The nations are trying to meet 
and agree upon peace for a long d and if possible for ever. In 

this -plendid hope they find the path beset with discouragements and 
pitfalls, caused by the weakness and wickedness of men. The st tea- 
men of longest vision and stoutest hearts are beginning to sugg 
that if the nations take but one small step forward, one substantial 
step, they will have accomplished all that can be hoped for at this 
time. 

That is as far as man can see. But what does divinity see ahead 
of mankind? It must be that humanity is on the right road, after 
all! Mankind is marching forward, too, although slowly and pain- 
fully. The four Christmas days preceding this were red with bloody 
fires over the earth, and armies of men were gashing one anoti. 
death. The earth was a charnel house. The spirit of Antichrist 
seemed to have secured the upper hand. Brute force strode from con- 
quest to conquest over justice and right. It seemed that the ancient 
standards had gone down to dust. More than one puzzled brain was 
deluded into thinking that truth was no more. Sometimes fainting 
hearts wondered if it were worth while to stick to honor and faith, 
since fraud and treason seemed to flourish while the old virtues failed 
to save men from suffering and death. 

But on this Christmas day, thank God! there is a revival of faith, 
ell as of hope and charity. Humanity now knows that the gods 
of evil and brute force are tumbled off their clay pedestals and 
smashed to bits in the midst of their worshipers. The Lord God of 
our fathers reigns, and by His right hand sits the Prince of Peace. 
Out of the night of war shines the new star that is leading humanity 

[34.5] 



THE DAY OF PEACE 

by swarms of nations to a new and broad road, where there will be 
less stumbling and fewer robbers. 

The chastened world now tries to make peace. It will succeed! 
It hopes for justice. It will not hope in vain! The appalling dangers 
that hung over the world for four years stupefied men at first, and 
then drove into their souls the knowledge that unless they should 
arise and defend liberty by first defeating and then slaying its assail- 
ant, they and their children would perish. They arose, nobly and by 
millions on both sides of the ocean. They defeated the assailant 
of liberty. They are now about to slay it. 

Who dares to hold their hand? Who can say with truth, in the 
sight of God, that mankind can safely forget and forgive the mur- 
derers? Is liberty safe while its slayer lives? Can humanity run the 
risk of another assault, or must it, to save its own life, slay its 
assailant? Where stand justice and mercy, if not on the side of the 
victim peoples? Mankind will arraign justice itself hereafter, if 
it does not now dispatch and annihilate the power that attacked the 
peaceful peoples of the world. 

The love of peace is in all hearts and tender memories incline 
the soul to mercy, forgiveness and forgetfulness. Nevertheless, the 
righteousness that exalteth a nation will not permit free men to 
turn the slayers loose. There must be justice and retribution, full 
punishment of the evil ones, restoration by the thief and expiation by 
the murderer before the work of peace will be secure. The God of 
Righteousness does not ask His believers to take evil to their bosoms. 



[346] 



Thursday, December 26, 1918 

The Nation Supreme 

BOLSHEVISTS who are honest in their belief are in favor of a 
world community or internationalism which shall be paramount 
to all nations. They do not specifically demand a superleague 
of nations, but they should favor such a league, as it is a step toward 
the universal proletarianism which they fondly believe would cure 
human ills. The bolsheviki are against nations as at present consti- 
tuted; and the advocates of a sovereign league of nations are also 
dissatisfied with nations as at present constituted. Both bolsheviki 
and proleaguers are trying to find a method of forcing nations to 
obey a will higher than the sovereign will of each state. 

Is that what Americans want? 

Diligent inquiry has failed to disclose any action or utterance 
by the American people or upon their authority which would permit 
any one to assume that Americans are dissatisfied with their govern- 
ment and are trying to find a plan which will evolve a universal 
sovereign superior to the United States and capable of compelling 
the United States to obey its will within a certain sphere. 

Inquiry fails to reveal any growth of bolshevism in the United 
States which could be regarded as anything more than a neighborhood 
outburst of mingled folly and sedition. There is no national move- 
ment toward bolshevism. On the contrary, wherever the people's 
will could be ascertained on a respectable scale, there has been mani- 
fested a readiness to attack and destroy bolshevism, and an equal 
impatience with any scheme which would impair the sovereignty and 
independence of the United States. 

No "internationalism" is wanted by the American people, so 
far as their will can be ascertained, except the mutual and voluntary 
association of free nations temporarily acting together for the pro- 
tection of liberty and civilization. 

Whenever any proposal is made to create an international tribu- 
nal which would have jurisdiction over the Monroe doctrine, the 
American people kick and will not have it. 

Whenever socialists and bolshevists propose to substitute an 
international system for the United States government, the police 
are usually required to protect the utterers of such doctrines. It is 

[347] 



THE NATION SUPREME 

noticeable that soldiers and sailors returned from the war zone are 
the first to attack the would-be destroyers of the government. 

Whenever the concrete suggestion is made that there should be 
a "world police force," with power to compel the United States to 
desist from any course which it might desire to take in defending its 
rights, its independence, or its honor, there is an immediate protest 
from Maine to California. 

Efforts have been made to commit the United States to the prin- 
ciple of a league of nations empowered to enforce peace, and these 
efforts have failed. It is evident that the Senate will not approve of 
such a project, even in principle. The country will not agree to any 
project which requires the United States to surrender any of its 
sovereign will or freedom of action. 

But, say the advocates of a league of nations, the States of this 
Union yielded certain sovereign powers for the sake of creating a 
strong general government, and they are all benefited by the arrange- 
ment. Why should not the nations combine in one union, as the 
States did? 

The answer is that the people of the States were one homogene- 
ous people, held together by common origin, language, experience and 
danger. They were the antithesis of the heterogeneous peoples of 
the world's nations, who are separated by differences of race, color, 
origin, language, experience and environment. The Americans joined 
together because they had common interests. The nations cannot 
join together in the United States of the World because they have 
conflicting and irreconcilable interests. 

If the present war has not taught mankind that there are cleav- 
ages between certain peoples which never can be welded together, it 
has taught them nothing. Gloss the subject as you will, with all the 
eloquence and idealism that the mind can conceive, and the fact re- 
mains that the people of the United States are firmly resolved to 
hold their destiny in their own hands. They will not admit any other 
nation or people to a partnership in deciding the questions that affect 
the honor and existence of their country. The Nation, under the 
Almighty, is to them the ark of safety and the last resort in time 
of trouble. 



[348] 



Saturday, December 28, 1918 

Abolish the German Empire 

NO ONE has failed to note that President Wilson has consistently 
refrained from alluding to the United States as an ally of the 
nations at war against Germany. He has recognized the exist- 
ence of the working arrangement by speaking of the association of 
the United States with the allies in prosecuting the war. Although 
the United States as a matter of fact was and is an ally of the nations 
that were attacked by Germany, the alliance is not formal, and is 
not prescribed in any treaty or protocol. 

The President is right in refraining from the use of words which 
would convey the idea that the United States is a member of an 
alliance or league of nations. This nation, in prosecuting war, can 
cooperate with other nations, even to the extent of giving its last 
dollar and its last drop of blood, and the association is for all fighting 
purposes an alliance; but it is quite another thing to enter into a 
written agreement by which other nations would share the power of 
determining the extent to which the United States should go in making 
war or preparing for war, protecting weaker nations, patrolling the 
seas, suppressing revolutions, guarding natural gateways, or other- 
wise fulfilling its duties as a member of an alliance or league. That 
is a power which the United States government cannot agree to share 
with any other nation or group of nations. The only authority which 
could make such an agreement is the people of the United States, who 
have set up a government that is in itself unable to transfer any of 
its powers or any of the national sovereignty to any other nation or 
league of nations. 

Taking the situation as it exists, and not as it might exist, and 
it must be admitted that the only agency that threatens the world's 
peace is the alliance heretofore called the German empire. That was 
an alliance or league composed of the Prussian, Bavarian, Saxon and 
other nations, organized into a close union called the German empire. 
The union was framed for the purpose of making aggressive war. 
The allied German nations agreed to surrender their sovereignty and 
many state and individual liberties whenever the war lord should 
decide to make war. It is simply a league to enforce war. 

This alliance was so successful that it dominated Europe and 
was on the road to world domination when it was defeated by another 
league composed of the allies and the United States. Now, if there 

[349] 



ABOLISH THE GERMAN EMPIRE 

is any necessity for a league of nations, it is to prevent the formation 

of another League or empire by the Gorman nations, the only nations 

that combine to make predatory war. The present entente, in short, 
should declare the German empire forever abolished and should pro- 
hibit the formation of another alliance, league or empire by the 
German nations. Let the Bavarians. Prussians and the rest form 
their boundaries as they please, according to tribes; but if they should 
attempt to band together, they should be dispersed and punished. It 
will be said. "Why should the powers deny to Germany the right to 
form a federation of states, which is not denied to the British empire, 
the United States or other free nations?" The answer is that Ger- 
many had the right and exercised it murderously against the world, 
and thereby forfeited the right. One deliberate and desperate at- 
tempt to use this system as a means of conquering the world is 
sufficient reason for denying to the German tribes any further oppor- 
tunity to band together. 

The United States need not join any world league of nations to 
prove its devotion to universal peace and justice. All it need do is 
to subscribe to the declaration of the European allies exterminating 
the German empire and prohibiting any alliance among the German 
nations. If the Germans should defy this declaration, the United 
States would be expected to join in squelching them, and it would 
doubtless be glad to do its share. Beyond that point the United States 
would not be embroiled in European affairs. There would be no 
further work for a league to enforce peace, for no nation or league 
other than the German is or has been intent upon breaking the peace. 

Of course, the German nations must be excluded from present 
entente and from any league that might be formed, as the object of 
the alliance is to keep the Germans in bounds. If the Germans should 
be admitted into the alliance, they would vote on all measures taken 
for their own control — an utter absurdity. Moreover, they would be 
informed of all the workings of the league and would make war 
whenever ready, with complete disregard of their obligations. Thus 
the league formed to enforce peace would be turned into a method 
of facilitating another German assault upon the world. 

Strait-jacket Germany and the Germans. Smash the German 
empire and keep the German nations separate. Punish any would-be 
Bismarck who should try to form another alliance of the German 
tribes. Give back to the owners the territories stolen by the Germans, 
and then it will be found that the German peril has disappeared. 
France will then be the strongest power in Europe. That will mean 
peace. 

[350] 



V 

a Worl 

Mme Amer asked himself, "If President 

be so eager to er a league of nations that would bind the 

a foreign will, superior to and sovereign over the 

. 

friends deny that be favors a league 
of nations empow< by being armed with an army 

and navy; that the nations to contribute a 

common pool, to be called a league of 
be is demanding nothing more than a league which will 
express the moral force of the nations, not backed by their physical 
Mr. v. -peeeh at the banquet at Buckingham palace 

seemed to verify this statement of his position, for be suggested 
nothing more than the organization of the "moral force of the world," 
to il ;>eaee settlements permanent. 

nobody in the world can enter any objection to the 
creation of a league of nations which is empowered merely to express 
sh that nations shall not engage in war any more. 

■i went further yesterday in Ins Guildhall speech 
roust now be not a balance of power, not one power- 
ful group of nations set up against another, but a single, overwhelming, 
powerful group of nations who shall be the trustees of the peaee of 

'. - - ■£'.'.: - ■ . 

assume that t. - -res" shall be empowered to act. If the trustees 

a preserve the peace of the world, they must be able to inter- 

. - 

• ■ . ." . - • - 

- language means simply that the "single, overwhelming power- 
ful group of nations" should exercise moral force., not physical force. 
a futile dream of insuring the world's peace — a dream that 

■ 

I*. .- with profound regret that thoughtful Americans are seemg 



THE NATURE OF A WORLD LEAGUE 

Wilson in his effort to work out a league of nations that will neither 
resort to force itself nor fail to prevent warlike nations from using 
force. All Americans support the President, to a man, in the desire 
to abolish war, and to make such peace settlements at this time as 
will preserve peace with justice. But a rapidly growing number of 
Americans perceive that it would be unwise, even if it were easy or 
possible, for the United States to compromise its complete freedom 
of action by joining a league of nations empowered to call upon its 
members for troops, ships and munitions of war to suppress a war 
begun by some recalcitrant nation. That power is nothing less than 
the power to declare war, which is committed to Congress, and which 
Congress cannot transfer to any league of nations, by treaty or other- 
wise. 

The feeling of Americans who fail to become enthusiastic over 
the idea of a league of nations is that the nations may utter any kind 
of moral resolutions without affecting in the slightest degree the war 
aims of a barbarous power like Germany ; that the longer the nations 
rely upon moral force only, the greater will be the advantage gained 
by the aggressor; that the only effective league of nations to prevent 
war would be a league armed and empowered to destroy any nation 
making war, and that the United States is not capable of joining 
such a league. 

Other nations can join an armed league of nations if they please, 
and apparently it would be a good plan for Great Britain, France, 
Italy, Japan, Russia and other nations to form such a league. The 
fact that the United States must and will retain its complete sov- 
ereignty and freedom of action causes many Americans to regret that 
President Wilson should assume the leadership in a movement which, 
if it materializes at all, will not include the United States. 



[352] 



Tuesday, December 31, 1918 

1918 

THE most somber and glorious year in the latter history of man- 
kind will die tonight. God speed it into the past! For its days 
were loaded with sorrow and horror, and its nights were filled 
with weeping. At the end its gloomy storms were broken by a sudden 
glorious light, in which grappling armies stood staring and trans- 
fixed, and lowered their reeking arms. An empire of blood and iron 
crumbled and fell, while nations in oppression felt their hearts bound 
within them in response to the long-awaited call of liberty. 

Decisions of critical importance to humanity for future ages 
were made during 1918 — many of them. The year is packed full of 
memorable events. One or two dates, however, stand out beyond the 
others as real turning points in the history of mankind. One of these 
was March 21, when the German emperor assumed command in 
person of the mightiest armed force ever assembled and hurled it 
against the breasts of France and England, in a resolve to break down 
once for all the free spirit that stood in his path and denied his right 
to be overlord of the world. 

Dramatists and painters of the future will kindle their imagina- 
tions on this event. They will see in their mind's eye the last of the 
Hohenzollerns at the peak of evil glory, destroyer of a dozen feeble 
states, mutilator of France, assassin of Russia, and worshiped by 
his frenzied people as a war lord destined to deliver to them the 
riches of the whole earth. This sinister figure of Hohenzollern will 
furnish the theme for many a tragedy and many a picture. He was 
so great, and he became so little! He endangered the universe and 
then he fled from the gaze of men ! He was so audacious in his blas- 
phemy and his defiance of God's will; yet he was so contemptible in 
his cowardice, so squalid of spirit when adversity tested his mettle! 
His empire, too, was such a paradox, with its industrious and home- 
loving people turned fiends at the prospect of spoiling their neigh- 
bors. His army was never equaled for system and precision, yet it 
fell to pieces when it met its equal in numbers and fled for its life. 
His navy was built up with vigor and skill, and its officers and men 
were good sailors; yet they dared not fight in the open; and when 
sea murder failed them, they ingloriously filed out into the sea and 
gave themselves up to their superiors. 

[ 353 1 



NINETEEN EIGHTEEN 

What marvelous pictures arise before the mind in contemplating 
the changes that befell the German empire in 1918! In January it 
sprawled over Europe, its vast bulk overshadowing the center of 
civilization. It drained the strength of Europe and Asia, growing 
stronger by feeding upon the life of succumbing peoples, until in 
March it seemed that nothing but its own delay stood in the way of 
its conquest of Europe. Its enemies were rising up against it, par- 
ticularly the United States of America, but there seemed to be time 
and opportunity in which to strike a deathblow to France and Eng- 
land. After that what was to be feared from America? The dollar 
worshipers could be bought off by giving them Canada or some of 
the other remnants of Germany's victims. Then the world would be 
at the feet of Germany, and no king or emperor under the firmament 
would take an important step without humbly obtaining permission 
from the overlord at Potsdam. The German people would control 
the commerce of the whole earth, and thereby would pile up riches 
beyond the cloudy dreams of desire. 

Against the steel and flame and gas that operated on a colossal 
scale to effect the will of the dominant German empire there were 
arrayed the dwindling human walls of liberty. France stood dying 
but unconquerable, and England stood by her side, bloody but un- 
bowed. The blow was struck. The living wall swayed. The German 
millions pressed with frantic energy to make the dazzling barbaric 
dream come true. Man's free soul would not have it so. The 
unseen spirit of liberty sustained every son of France and England 
until help came. The Americans appeared. They eagerly fought to 
fight. Their fresh vigor was new life to the hard-pressed French and 
British forces. All rallied together, with wonderful new zeal, under 
a marshal endowed with marvelous foresight and skill. From the 
moment of the rally the German empire and all its murderous gains 
were canceled, annulled and made nothing. The process of annihila- 
tion went forward like the march of the hangman to the doomed one's 
cell. The German people instinctively felt that their master had met 
his master. The false pride fell from them, and they groveled at 
the feet of the French and British and American soldiers. 

What is to come is another chapter, which will be told in its 
turn. The book of 1919 will be crowded, without doubt. But there 
will be no page or chapter so luminous, no recital so inspiring, as that 
which is contained in the book of 1918, where posterity will read of 
the hours and days when Liberty came down to earth and marched with 
her sons to victory ! 

[354] 



Monday, January 13, 1919 
The Enemy of All Nations 

THE French government announces that it has rejected a proposi- 
tion made on January 5 through the British embassy, suggest- 
ing that the governments of France, Italy, Japan and the 
United States invite the various Russian factions and so-called gov- 
ernments, including the bolsheviki, to "cease hostilities, violence and 
reprisals, and establish peace both among each other and with the 
neighboring states. This truce would be requested for the duration 
of the peace conference, one of the ends of which is to reestablish 
peace in Russia and the neighboring countries and bring the desired 
succor to the suffering populations." The proposition also included 
the suggestion that all the Russian factions, including the bolsheviki, 
be permitted to send delegations to the peace conference. The re- 
jection of the proposal by the French government is stated by M. 
Pichon, foreign minister, to be based upon the ground that the bol- 
sheviki are criminals and anarchists, opposed to all right and all 
government. 

Although the proposition was evidently made with the best of 
intentions, in the hope that an all-inclusive participation in the peace 
conferences by Russian factions would lead to peace, there is no doubt 
that public opinion in America will sustain the action of the French 
government in refusing to have any dealings with the bolsheviki. It 
would be a grave mistake to recognize the bolshevik representatives 
in any capacity. Their admission as delegates to the peace conference 
would dignify the assassins and anarchists, and would give their sup- 
porters throughout the world some ground for asserting that the 
civilized governments had been intimidated into dealing with them. 

No doubt the British government, in forwarding the proposal, 
hoped that some kind of peace might be patched up with the bolshe- 
viki. But that is an idle dream. The essence of bolshevism is oppo- 
sition to established government. How can there be peace between 
the murderer and his victim? Such spokesmen of bolshevism as 
Lenine and Trotzky have repeatedly said that there could be no com- 
promise between nations as now constituted and bolshevism, which 
seeks to create a new social order based on internationalism. 

In all his efforts Lenine has aimed at the undermining and over- 
throwing of nations. His propaganda has been carried on in Sweden, 

[355] 



THE ENEMY OF ALL NATIONS 

Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Spain, France, Italy and England. 
It is now introduced into the United States. Lenine asserts that Rus- 
sia, no matter how thoroughly bolshevized it might be, could not exist 
alongside of "capitalistic" nations. His ideal international society 
can exist only by the extermination of nations as now organized. 
Therefore he attempts to destroy existing governments. Logically, 
it would be just as wise for the allies to ask for a parley with the 
bolsheviki at Moscow, with a view to the early abandonment of 
existing forms of government and the universal adoption of bolshe- 
vism, as for the allies to invite the bolsheviki to participate in the 
peace conference at Paris. One is no more preposterous than the 
other. 

France's alternative is war against bolshevism, by military force 
if practicable. Probably it will come to that in Europe, if the allies 
do not go out to throttle bolshevism before it spreads over Europe. 
It would be easier now to kill off bolshevism in Russia, stupendous 
as the task appears to be, than to fight bolshevism after it has taken 
over Russia, Germany and perhaps other countries. 

The nations should face this new peril bravely, and attack it im- 
mediately, without thought of giving it quarter. In the future there 
may be a good and acceptable substitute for nations, but this war has 
shown that the spirit of patriotism is regarded by mankind generally 
as practically identical with the spirit of liberty. Therefore it is 
relied upon as the ultimate source of power and authority. It has 
just put down a terrible foe. It can put down the other. The love 
which every man bears for his country is sufficient to save the world 
from chaos. Let the issue be clearly recognized, and let the forces 
of civilization go forward cheerfully to victory. 



[356] 



Saturday, January 18, 1919 

The Great Struggle Begins 

TODAY the nations which successfully defended the world against 
the attacks of Germany and her accomplices will begin confer- 
ences intended to define and fix the terms to be imposed upon 
the defeated nations. The conference will not be open to representa- 
tives of the enemy nations, as the allies do not yet know what terms 
they will agree upon. There are questions of importance to each of 
them which must be considered in the broadest and most conciliatory 
spirit if harmony is to be preserved. The very essence of the coming 
peace is agreement among the allies. It may almost be said, "No 
agreement, no peace." Certainly without agreement there will not 
be a satisfactory or reliable peace. The allied conference, without 
agreement, will more readily breed war than peace. 

The supreme council, consisting of the President of the United 
States, the premiers of the allied nations and the two representatives 
of Japan, have charted the course for the peace conference. The gen- 
eral character of the conference and the scope of its operations have 
been defined. With indispensable reticence the supreme council has 
kept from the world for the time being the plans which the allied 
governments have in mind. These plans must be discussed and agreed 
to by all the allied governments before they can be regarded as de- 
cisive. When agreed upon they will probably be quite different in 
detail from their present rough outlines. 

It is one thing to resolve upon the creation of a government, for 
example, and another thing to shape its nature and powers. This was 
exhibited in the convention which framed the Constitution of the 
United States. There were all kinds of controversial proposals in 
that convention, any one of which, if published broadcast, would have 
inflamed the people. The delegates wisely kept the tentative pro- 
posals to themselves. Their finished work was acceptable. Their 
work when half finished was so objectionable as to have justified civil 
war if the people had been convinced that the Constitution was to 
take the shape it then possessed. 

The necessity for moderation in speech, generous sympathy in 
feeling and conciliation in spirit during the course of the peace confer- 
ences is so apparent that the delegates must realize most keenly their 
tremendous responsibilities. An intractable and unyielding spirit is 
extremely dangerous at this time in any delegate, not only to the 



THE GREAT STRUGGLE BEGINS 

welfare of his own cause but to the welfare of the world. What would 
be the folly of the peace conference, for example, if it should not 
reconcile the differences between Italy and the south Slav peoples 
concerning Dalmatia? That is a dispute that is susceptible of ad- 
justment; an honest difference of opinion now, which,, if not adjusted, 
will surely be an honest justification for war tomorrow. The mind 
recoils from the spectacle of two brave nations, still bleeding from 
the wounds they received while fighting as comrades against the evil 
powers, suddenly turning to rend each other. Humanity may despair 
of reaching any place of safety in this world if two allied nations 
are to be permitted to leave the peace conference and take up arms 
against each other, with all kinds of possible entanglements affecting 
other nations that desire to remain friendly and at peace. 

Italy can w r ell afford to continue her generous policy toward the 
south Slavs, who can build up a friendly nation if now befriended. 
And the Serbs would do well to restrain their speech and rely upon 
the justice of the civilized nations in adjusting the Adriatic question. 
It is foolish for both Italy and Serbia to announce that their stand is 
irrevocable and that their claims are not susceptible of compromise. 
No question of honor is involved, nor even any question of vital 
interest. Each nation could survive and nourish if utterly deprived 
of all that it now claims against the other. Each seems to be claiming 
somewhat more than it is strictly entitled to, as impartial witnesses 
believe. Surely there is room for accommodation of both nations, and 
they are bound by the most solemn obligations of honor and true 
self-interest to reach an agreement. They would injure themselves 
in the eyes of the world and in their relations with their neighbors far 
more than they would gain by refusing to adjust their differences. 

The Adriatic question is only one among the many problems of 
the peace conference. The absolute necessity for exercising a con- 
ciliatory spirit rests upon the United States just as much as upon 
Italy and Serbia. If it should appear that discussions of an ideal 
league of nations threaten to stretch out to a dangerous degree, im- 
periling the recuperative strength of France, Belgium, Serbia, Rou- 
mania and the other nations that must have peace and restoration 
without delay, then it will be the duty of the American delegates to 
yield for the common good. 

The nations are now to begin their greatest struggle — their strug- 
gle with the weaknesses and selfishness of human nature. May the 
delegates be clear-sighted and exalted of purpose; but, above all, may 

they be conciliatory and generous in spirit! 

* 

[358] 



Wednesday, January 22, 1919 

The Nation Slayers 

THE intimation that the supreme council of the allies is about to 
reach a decision regarding Russia is news of the greatest im- 
portance to the entire world. It is the most satisfactory assur- 
ance 3^et given that the leading powers are actually beginning to take 
control of the world's most pressing problems, and are not merely 
exchanging courtesies. 

So overwhelmingly have the bolsheviki proved the case against 
themselves that the allies are no longer justified for delaying to act. 
The evidence of deliberate intent to assassinate organized free gov- 
ernments is so clear, and the crimes of the bolsheviki in trying to 
spread their abominable doctrines are so atrocious, that they long 
ago forfeited the right to exist. The extermination of the bolsheviki 
is a necessity of life to free men and free nations. The bolsheviki 
brag of freedom and denounce existing governments as bearing down 
upon the workers and the poor, but wherever the bolsheviki have 
gained power they have robbed the poor, swindled the workers, de- 
prived all classes of their liberty, destroyed order, debauched the 
public service and denied to every one any protection to property, 
family, business, home or life. No more diabolical perversion of 
liberty was ever conceived than that which is now killing Russia. 

Various plans have been put forward for the consideration of 
the allied powers in dealing with the bolsheviki. These plans range 
from surrender to the Russian reds to a war of extermination against 
them. One suggestion was that all the Russian factions should be 
invited to patch up a temporary truce and to send representatives 
to the peace conference at Paris. Obviously this was an impracticable 
plan, as the bolsheviki plainly announce that their system cannot 
exist except by the death of existing national governments. The bol- 
sheviki, therefore, cannot share in any deliberations looking to a 
compromise peace in Russia, nor can existing nations enter into a 
conference with the bolsheviki except as victors or vanquished. 

Another plan contemplated the erection of a barrier against the 
sweep of bolshevism westward, by building up Poland, Roumania, 
Bohemia, the south Slav kingdom and other free nations. That plan 
is good so far as it goes, but it is inadequate. The allied powers can- 
not afford to adopt a half-way plan, which attempts to dispose of 

[359] 



THE NATION SLAYERS 

the situation by "letting Russia stew in its own juice." There is a 
world of error and shortsightedness in that phrase. The enlightened 
statesmen in allied nations know only too well that the world will not 
be safe until Russia is safe. It is not only for Russia, but for the 
world, that the allies must and will adopt and execute an adequate 
plan to stabilize and liberate the Russian nation. 

The plan that will accomplish this result is necessarily a bold and 
comprehensive scheme of offensive action against the bolsheviki, sup- 
port of buffer states and defensive action in behalf of the Russian 
people, including relief on a scale far beyond anything yet outlined. 
The supreme council does not go so far as to announce the adoption 
of such a plan, but recent events reveal very clearly that this is com- 
ing. France's denunciation of the bolsheviki, President Wilson's 
statement that the friends of liberty must fight to a finish, the stiffen- 
ing of the armistice terms, the dispatch of the Polish legion from 
France to Poland, the conclusive testimony of Ambassador Noulens 
and Minister Scavenius and the evidence of a conspiracy between the 
German army and the Russian bolsheviki all point one way. The 
allied powers, however reluctant they may be to enter Russia, will 
choose to do so rather than face the greater evil of a Germanized 
Russia and another colossal war. 

Much depends upon promptness. The bolsheviki can be beaten 
better now than later. They are getting some help from Germany, 
but the allies can put a stop to that now, whereas later, if the situation 
be neglected, it will be extremely difficult to prevent collusion be- 
tween the Germans and the betrayers of Russia. Now, while Marshal 
Foch has his grip on the throat of Germany, while the bolsheviki 
lack equipment and before they have overrun Poland, now is the 
time for the allies to act with supreme boldness in Russia. Let them 
grasp the nettle and crush it. They must do it now or later, if 
they are to survive. 



f 360 ] 



Thursday, January 23, 1919 

The Five Guardians 

SEVERAL admissions and revelations from Paris throw light on 
the pathway that lies directly ahead of the nations. Although 

the peace conference has not gone beyond the merest pre- 
liminaries, the supreme council has considered the situation in its 
broadest aspects, and on one or two subjects has developed a fairly 
detailed policy. The nations find themselves compelled to do certain 
things which they did not wish to do, and other projects which they 
hoped to dispose of with ease are now found to be bristling with 
difficulties. 

It is now a certainty that formation of the league of nations will 
not precede consideration of and action upon the actual emergencies 
in Europe. The relegation of the proposed league of nations to the 
rear is a decided advance toward orderly and effective settlement 
of present war problems. Europe has so many practical problems, 
if it is to escape further war and survive the shock of prostration and 
famine, that it would be folly for its statesmen to attempt to thrust 
these problems aside to consider theoretical and ideal international 
relationships with a view to the abolition of future war. The surest 
way to prevent future wars is to deal effectively with the problems of 
the present war; that is, to punish the guilty, extricate the maimed 
and dying nations, help the newborn nations and put such handcuffs 
and straight-jackets upon the Huns that they cannot by any craft or 
force make war again. Isn't that a sufficiently large program, without 
attempting to bring England, America, France and the rest into an 
agreement to cut down armaments, organize an international police 
court, submit their grievances to outsiders and otherwise yield their 
right to decide for themselves what to do for their own defense? 

The rescue of Russia is now admitted to be a condition precedent 
to the formation of a league of nations. Good! That admission is 
evidence of progress, as it is putting facts in their proper order. 
Russia in anarchy means Russia a prey to the Huns, and that in turn 
means another tremendous war as soon as the Huns have completed 
their preparations. It must always be remembered that Russia is 
economically Germanized already. The business language is German, 
the money dealings are German and the banks are controlled by Ger- 
mans. The 5,000,000 Germans in Russia dominate the business and 
financial life of the country. There is little doubt that the Germans in 

[3611 



THE FIVE GUARDIANS 

Russia could put a stop to bolshevism in a month if it suited their 
plans to cut off financial and other support. But their plans call for 
the demoralization of Russia and the subjection of the entire nation 
to the Germans. So the caldron must boil up its hell-broth until 
Russians with property are robbed and Russians with intelligence 
and patriotism are killed. Then the Germans will easily take care of 
the bolshevik riffraff by sending in a few divisions of troops with 
machine guns. That is what the allies should do now, in the opinion 
of the most reliable and best informed representatives of the allies in 
Russia. The allies should take Petrograd and Moscow, possession 
of which gives the bolshevik leaders great prestige with the Russian 
people. The expulsion of the bolsheviki from these capitals would 
be comparatively easy, and as a strategic move would be worth more 
than the holding of Siberia. 

The supreme peace council finds itself compelled toi retain a 
strong grasp on Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey. 
The enemy is the enemy still, under all the pretenses of reorganiza- 
tion, democratization and demobilization. The Germans count upon 
cheating the Poles out of that part of Poland which was stolen by 
Germany. The Austrians are trying to hold Galicia. The Magyars 
are relinquishing Roumania's territory only on threat of death. The 
Magyars are pleading a fraudulent armistice which they induced Gen. 
Franchet d'Esperey to sign, which gave a band of alleged "revolution- 
ists" among the Magyars a color of authority over territory belonging 
to the Czecho-Slovaks, the Roumanians and Jugoslavs. This arrange- 
ment has been annulled, of course, by the allied powers. It discloses, 
however, how tireless and how treacherous the enemy is in his efforts 
to make the allied victory nothing but ashes. 

Grim necessity is teaching the great allies that they are already 
a league of nations, bound to control the world for the time being, 
whether or not they relish the task. They must control the enemy, 
and they must control the smaller nations, and they must control 
the neutrals. Out of the universal tumult and disorder the five great 
nations — America, Britain, France, Italy and Japan — must bring 
order by the compelling force that lies behind their expressed will. 
If these five nations cannot now agree, under the urgency of present 
clangers, then there need be no thought wasted on the idea that 50 
nations hereafter will agree. The test of the world's civilization is now 
being made, without waiting for the formation of a league of nations. 



[362] 



Thursday, January 30, 1919 

No Substitute for Free Nations 

BEATEN down by facts and the reasoning that is based upon 
them, President Wilson is retiring as gracefully as possible from 
his untenable position on the question of the league of nations. 
The supreme peace council is helping him to "save his face" by outlin- 
ing a so-called league of nations, which is as different from his original 
proposal as day is from night. The league as now agreed upon will 
be nothing more than an international association, without power. 
Sovereign nations like the United States will remain sovereign, de- 
termining for themselves, absolutely without interference, upon such 
course of action at any time as seems best to them. The world is 
merely to have another advisory, statistical, rhetorical headquarters. 
President Wilson's original league of nations, the United States of 
the World, armed with military and naval power, and bound to 
suppress any nation that should dare to disturb the world's peace, 
has gone glimmering into the shadows of Never-Never land. 

It is well. There should not be any league of nations on the 
original plan. It is in its essence internationalism, destructive of 
nations, and therefore dangerously resembling bolshevism. In order 
to live such a league of nations would have had to draw its strength 
from the nations, and therefore each nation would have been left 
weaker than before. No nation's peculiar problems could have been 
solved by itself alone, but would have been passed upon also by other 
nations, perhaps secret enemies. 

The hard facts which have wrecked the ideal supernation are 
these: The civilized peoples of Europe have just saved themselves 
from slavery by the exercise of their strength organized in separate 
distinct nations. These nations are far from perfect organizations, 
but they are the best working systems yet devised by man for making 
his life, liberty and welfare reasonably secure. By grouping them- 
selves in nations, peoples of the same blood and sympathy are able 
to combine their individual strength in fairly effective cooperation. 
Autocracy decreed that there should be only one nation; bolshevism 
decrees that there shall be no nations. The free and civilized peoples 
beat one of their assailants by sticking to the plan of fighting by 
nations. The fight with the other assailant is now beginning. 

The logical deductions from the foregoing facts are these: Gov- 
ernments organized and maintained by free peoples are effective 

[ 363 ] 



NO SUBSTITUTE FOR FREE NATIONS 

barriers against the tyranny of both autocrats and anarchists. Any 
project which aims at weakening free nations is therefore dangerous, 
if not fatal, to liberty. A league of nations acting as a substitute for 
free nations is an experiment. If not powerful, it cannot prevail; and 
if powerful, it must derive its power from free nations, thereby weak- 
ening their individual strength. Free peoples cooperate within a 
nation, but whether they would cooperate in a universal league of 
nations is doubtful, for this reason: In a nation all treason is purged, 
but in a league there may be traitor nations. Racial differences form 
barriers which are not removed by formal compacts, and different 
standards of living form economic obstacles which no league can sur- 
mount. 

Nations must determine their own standards of living according 
to their ability. In a certain sense every nation is perpetually at 
war with other nations, with offensive and defensive economic 
weapons. Since the proposed league of nations was essentially a 
project to deprive individual nations of these weapons, it was an 
attack upon them. They resisted the destructive effect of direct 
attack by autocracy. They are resisting the destructive effect of 
indirect attack which would disarm them. They will resist the de- 
structive effect of direct attack by bolshevism, or go down in universal 
anarchy. 

In the oncoming war between liberty and anarchy there is no 
other plan which takes the place of organized nations acting in har- 
mony according to the exigencies of the hour. If civilization is to be 
saved, it will be saved by free nations, not by a substitute. 



[364 



Saturday, February 1, 1919 

The Power That Rules 

IF THE people of the United States had committed their future 
policy unreservedly to the discretion of the five gentlemen who rep- 
resent the United States at the peace conference, there would be 
occasion for profound uneasiness regarding the news that comes from 
Paris. This news is apparently authentic. It is to the effect that the 
United States is about to join with other nations in a scheme for the 
pacification and government for an indefinite time of European, 
African and oceanic regions that are unable to maintain their own 
public order and independence. The "league of nations" is to become 
responsible for the maintenance of order in these backward countries 
and regions. The United States is to become a full-fledged member of 
this "league," and therefore it must assume its share of the expense 
and danger of war that are entailed in this overlordship. 

Apparently this plan has progressed to such an extent as to call 
for the early transfer of American forces to parts of Turkey that 
must be pacified or patrolled. 

The unavoidable consequences of such a commitment are so 
fraught with peril to the United States and the western hemisphere 
that it is impossible to believe fully in the authenticity of the reports 
from Paris. We do not place our estimate of the Americanism and 
the discretion of the five delegates on the plane which is indicated by 
these reports. 

Nevertheless, if it should be true that the American delegates 
have agreed to a plan which would pledge the United States to in- 
definite participation in the quarrels and wars of Europe, Africa and 
the ocean islands, it is most comforting to know that there is a power 
that will sweep away all engagements made by these delegates and 
utterly remove and destroy every attempt to involve this nation. 

That power is the will of the people. 

The American people have not authorized any man or set of 
men to commit this nation to the policy described. There is no 
reason whatever for assuming that the people have changed their will 
regarding the fundamental policies of the government. On the con- 
trary, there is the strongest of reasons for believing that the people 
stand on the solid rock foundation laid by the fathers of the republic. 
This strong reason is that the people have just fought a war to main- 

[365 1 



THE POWER THAT RULES 

tain the government and its rights unimpaired, exactly as it was 
established. Who says the American people failed to understand the 
danger that threatened their liberties? Who has reason to think that 
the United States has decided to put aside its guardianship of free 
government in this hemisphere to take up the task of maintaining 
order throughout the world? 

The President of the United States, whoever he may be, will not 
act contrary to the will of the people in these fundamental principles, 
because he cannot. He may propose a new policy, but the people 
will take the liberty of passing judgment upon his proposal. If it 
means an abandonment of their safety or their guardianship of the 
western hemisphere, they will reject his proposal. 

The United States Senate will not act contrary to the will of 
the people in these matters, because it cannot. It can act only within 
the sphere of its authority. It cannot join the President in amending 
the Constitution by treaty, no matter how flattering to the self- 
esteem of America it might be to pose as a leading figure in a league 
of nations. The people have fixed the metes and bounds of the pres- 
idency and the Senate, and beyond those limits they cannot pass. 

The Senate, however, can reject a treaty that attempts to change 
the current of this nation's future if the senators conclude that the 
treaty is unwise. This right of revision is one of the most important 
safeguards of American liberty. It will be exercised to the full by 
the Senate, as a matter of course, when the treaty of peace is laid 
before it. If the five gentlemen now acting in Paris in behalf of the 
United States do not faithfully execute the will of the people, the 
Senate will reject the treaty, whether the governments of the world 
are pleased or otherwise. 

In the midst of the uneasiness — nay, the stupefaction — caused by 
the reports from Paris, it is well to seek comfort in the thought that 
nobody in Paris or in Washington will set aside the will of the Amer- 
ican people. 



[3GG 



Friday, February 7, 1919 

America's Policies and Their Makers 

A STUDENT of the American character and American history, 
applying to the present situation all that he had learned which 
might guide him in forming an opinion as to America's prob- 
able attitude, would confidently state this rule: 

The United States will never assume responsibility for the gov- 
ernment of any region in the eastern hemisphere, nor will it permit its 
flag to fly permanently over a single foot of territory in Europe, Asia 
or Africa. 

If the Philippines should be cited against this rule, the retort 
could be made with great force that the Philippines constitute the 
exception which proves the rule. It would be difficult to find an 
American who would welcome a repetition of America's experience in 
transoceanic expansion. 

There are men who believe that the spread of republicanism in 
Europe has taken the heart out of the Monroe doctrine, by making 
it highly improbable that any combination of European powers will 
ever again attack the system of popular government in this hem- 
isphere. 

Yet the world is still panting after the death struggle with a power 
that attacked popular government, not merely in Europe, but every- 
where. But for the strong arm of the United States it is probable 
that Germany would now be finishing off the British empire, after 
having trampled down France. 

The United States went into the war against Germany for the 
purpose of saving popular government from destruction. When that 
purpose has been accomplished the United States will have no further 
business in Europe. It will withdraw from Europe totally and resume 
its place as defender of democracy in the western hemisphere. 

After their dreadful experience it is not surprising that the na- 
tions of Europe gather around Mr. Wilson and beg him to exercise the 
limitless strength of the United States in behalf of this or that laudable 
plan for adjusting their differences. They plausibly urge that the 
safety of democracy cannot be assured without the participation by 
the United States in European affairs. The disinterestedness of the 
United States makes this government an ideal authority for the 

[ 367 ] 



AMERICA'S POLICIES AND THEIR MAKERS 

control of Constantinople, they say. It is also wise, they suggest, that 
an unselfish power like the United States should look after the un- 
fortunate Armenians and perhaps the Macedonians, Persians and 
others. 

There need be no fear that Mr. Wilson will mislead the European 
peoples by giving them any assurances which the United States will 
afterward reject. Mr. Wilson has always made it plain that he is 
merely the representative of the United States, acting as the servant 
of the American people. 

The declaration of war against the German empire and the sim- 
ilar declaration against Austria-Hungary constitute the only utterance 
by the United States government which is not subject to revision or 
rejection by the people. Presidents often outline policies and some- 
times outline doctrines which are adopted by the people. If these 
policies and doctrines are not adopted, however, they have no effect, 
and any foreign government or people relying upon such utterances 
might make a great mistake. Mr. Roosevelt, while President, went 
so far in his anxiety to reassure Japan of America's friendly attitude 
that he urged the naturalization of Japanese subjects. That is only 
one of dozens of policies proposed by Presidents which were not ap- 
proved by Congress and the people. 

Only one expression has been obtained from the American people 
which can be taken as even remotely indicating their attitude toward 
the general set of policies outlined by President Wilson. That ex- 
pression was given at the November elections. If it had any bearing 
at all, it was adverse, for the reason that Mr. Wilson gave notice that 
a failure to elect a Democratic Congress would be regarded in Europe 
as a repudiation of his policies. Most Americans are generous enough 
to say that the elections were not a conclusive and express repudia- 
tion of Mr. Wilson's policies. No one, however, can truthfully say 
that the elections reflected approval of the Wilson policies. 

The United States, in short, is not committed in any way to the 
projects for a league of nations, American guardianship of European 
territory, allotment of German territory to the victors, collection of 
indemnities, compromises with bolshevik agents of the enemy or any 
other suggestion arising from the peace conference. The only man- 
date to Mr. Wilson from the people of the United States is that the 
war against Germany and Austria-Hungary shall be fought to a 
victorious conclusion. 



[368 



Friday, February 14, 1919 

The Allied Powers and Russia 

A POOR showing in behalf of the allied powers is made by Mr. 
Lloyd George in the matter of Russia. The Prinkipo conference 
is weakly defended by him, but he knows at least as much as 
other persons and is therefore aware that there will be no conference 
of Russian factions and the allies at Prinkipo. The allies may meet 
and confer with the bolsheviki, if they like, but the self-respecting 
pro-ally Russians will not be there. 

Inasmuch as there are representatives of the loyal Russian fac- 
tions in Paris, very well known and reliable men, like Prince Lvoff, 
Ambassador Bakhmeteff, M. Tchaikovsky and others, it seems im- 
probable that the supreme peace council issued its invitation out of 
pure ignorance of the attitude of loyal Russians. The council must 
have known that loyal Russians would not meet and bargain with the 
bolsheviki as to the best method of betraying Russia and the allies. 
Loyal Russians have insisted from the first, and now insist, that there 
cannot be any compromise with the bolsheviki, for the reason that the 
bolsheviki scheme of revolution has as its cornerstone the destruction 
of existing governments. If the bolsheviki would agree to compromise, 
they would no longer be bolsheviki, and their excuse for existence 
would vanish. If the allies should seek to make concessions to the 
bolsheviki, it would be like sharpening the knife to be laid at the 
throat of civilization. 

The purpose of the supreme council, therefore, could not have 
hinged upon the success of the plan for an all-Russian conference with 
the allied representatives at Prinkipo. Why was this plan proposed? 
Several conjectures have been made by perplexed commentators. One 
is that the allied powers wished to sound out public sentiment con- 
cerning the bolsheviki. If that be true, the powers now know how 
the peoples of allied countries stand and also how the loyal Russians 
stand. 

Another guess is that the council has intended from the first 
to intervene in Russia, but preferred to have the factions commit 
themselves for or against a conference in order to justify the next 
step, intervention. But this conjecture is met by Mr. Lloyd George's 
statement that the allied powers do not intend to intervene in Russia ; 
that the size of the force required would be such that no sane man 

[369 1 



THE ALLIED POWERS AND RUSSIA 

would ask the allies to undertake the task, and also that the United 
States would not join in intervention, either with men, money or 
material. That last statement will be astonishing to Americans, 
despite the known reluctance of President Wilson to send large forces 
to Russia. Unless Mr. Lloyd George has some information unknown 
to the American public there will be some doubt that the policy of 
the United States is definitely fixed against the sending of any men, 
money or material to aid loyal Russians against the bolsheviki. 

The summary of the allied attitude as made by Mr. Lloyd George 
is permeated with a despairing spirit quite unlike the usual temper of 
the energetic and confident premier of Great Britain. It will not 
strike a responsive chord in the breasts of patriotic and determined 
Americans, who are resolved to see through to the end all struggles 
involving the security of their liberty. Whether Hohenzollern or 
Lenine, whether scientific autocratic might or satanic mob violence 
and ignorance be the assailant, Americans generally are ready to face 
and destroy the foe. They know the liberty-loving Russians as well 
as or better than Mr. Lloyd George seems to know them, and they 
reject the suggestion that friendly aid would be regarded by the 
Russians as an attack upon their nation, to be met only by joining the 
bolsheviki and making universal war. The facts in Russia do not 
support Mr. Lloyd George. The loyal Russians have not attacked 
the Czecho-Slovaks. Nor did the Czecho-Slovaks need a gigantic 
force such as Mr. Lloyd George says is necessary to make intervention 
successful. 

If the Czecho-Slovak forces had been backed up at Cheliabinsk 
by a few regiments and by supplies, as recommended by allied staff 
officers, the bolsheviki would have been kept out of the richest parts 
of Russia. The allies easily could have spared these regiments. 
They can spare them now. They can take Petrograd tomorrow if 
they wish. They can scatter the bolsheviki and carry food and cloth- 
ing to the peasants, who are almost universally against the bolsheviki. 

No; the statements regarding the allies' attitude toward Russia 
are not convincing. There is something else bearing upon the situa- 
tion. Some powerful influence is inducing the allied nations to refrain 
from striking down the bolsheviki. 



[370 



Saturday, February 15, 1919 

The League of Nations Project 

FOR all practical purposes the United States is not interested in 
any project for a league of nations unless it is such a league 
as the United States can join without violence to its own Con- 
stitution and sovereignty. The question now is whether the outline 
of a league just made public in Paris is such a project, or whether 
it is susceptible of amendment to conform to American ideas, or 
whether it must be rejected altogether. 

The text of the league of nations' project will be read and dis- 
sected by millions of Americans who are intensely desirous of abolish- 
ing war and also intently devoted to their own country, its inde- 
pendence, its honor, its constituted government and its interest. Their 
feelings are apt to become mixed when they read the document which 
has been framed at Paris. The aim of the project is so noble, so richly 
deserving the whole-hearted support of every right-minded man, that 
it will be difficult to withhold approval of the text, and yet the pro- 
visions for enforcement of world peace are such as to run counter to 
some of the fundamental traditions of America. 

When it was suggested a few weeks ago> to a distinguished 
foreigner that the project of the league of nations as foreshadowed 
meant, if approved, several radical amendments of the Constitution of 
the United States, he replied that he did not doubt that the constitu- 
tion of every state in the world would have to be amended. If this 
be true, and if every nation in the world stands ready to amend its 
fundamental law to attain international accord, why should not the 
United States be willing to do as much for the sake of peace? That 
question will surely be thrust before the people of the United States 
if the Senate should voice objections to the project as it stands. 

The Post does not intend to point out provisions in the pro- 
jected league of nations which will arouse controversy in the Senate 
and in the country. There are many such provisions, and they will be 
quickly called to public attention. The question which we wish to 
discuss just now is whether the United States is prepared in its mind 
and heart to contribute part of its independence to a league of nations 
for the sake of promoting universal peace. 

The text of the proposed league reveals the bold, immovable fact 
that there cannot be an effective league of nations unless individual 

[371] 



THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS PROJECT 

nations surrender to it a portion of their control over their military 
and naval programs, their independent action in dealing with other 
nations, their plans for defense and their readiness to defend with 
instant force any unwarranted act of aggression, insult or wrong. 

The question is whether the United States has such confidence in 
the wisdom, impartiality and strength of a league of nations as to 
intrust to it the really decisive share of responsibility for the welfare 
of this nation. If so, the Constitution can be amended to permit the 
ratification of the treaty creating the league. If not, the league cannot 
include the United States as a member. 

The peculiar position of the United States in this world will be 
duly considered in answering the question soon to be propounded. 
The United States is guardian of the system of free governments in 
this hemisphere, and within the lifetime of middle-aged Americans 
this guardianship was exercised against the nation that Americans 
deeply love, namely, France. Abraham Lincoln was compelled to 
order France out of Mexico before a brother of the late Hapsburg 
Franz Josef should be too firmly seated on an imperial throne at the 
door of this nation. If such events could have happened less than a 
lifetime since, what complications may be reasonably expected in the 
course of many decades? Is the United States prepared to turn over 
to a league of nations the execution of the Monroe doctrine? If so, 
there need be little dispute over the verbiage of the obligation. If not, 
the leading republic, the deciding force in this war, will not join the 
league as it is projected. 

The destiny of the United States is bound up in the project of 
the league of nations. No American citizen should fail to study 
this subject with diligence, in order that he may contribute, if pos- 
sible, to some plan which will enable the nations to abolish war while 
maintaining their own independence. 



[372] 



Sunday, February 16, 1919 

The People Must Decide 

THE power exercised by the government of the United States 
was delegated to it by the States and by the people. This 
power is not transferable. It cannot be increased or diminished 
by any action of the government nor increased or diminished by any 
action of the States or the people, except by a method provided by 
the States and the people when they granted the power. The individ- 
uals temporarily executing the power by virtue of their offices have 
nothing to do with the origin, transfer or modification of the power. 
Their oaths of office require them to execute the duties imposed upon 
them, and no more. 

The United States government, not being the originator of its 
powers, is not authorized to confer with foreign governments as to 
any changes that individuals may deem desirable in the nature and 
scope of America's national powers. It does not matter whether 
these individuals are in or out of office, whether they are influential 
with the people or whether they believe they are qualified to make 
improvements in the relations between the people, the States and 
the Federal government. 

The treaty-making power of the United States cannot, of course, 
amend the Constitution which creates the treaty-making power. With- 
in the scope of its authority the treaty-making power is supreme, but 
its power is limited, just as all other powers of the government are 
limited. The treaty-making power is in continuous operation, as it 
were, and so is Congress. A treaty made yesterday may be amended 
or repealed by a law made today, or by a new treaty made tomorrow. 
A treaty is the supreme law of the land, but any other law passed by 
Congress may annul the treaty. 

Under the Constitution Congress has certain powers which it 
cannot enlarge, diminish, modify or ignore. It has the power to 
declare war, which includes the power to avoid or terminate war. It 
cannot delegate this power to the President, the Supreme Court, a 
league of nations or any other agency, nor can it return this power 
to the States and the people. Nor can the States or the people make 
war except by virtue of a declaration by Congress. Some Presidents 
have been accused of making war without a declaration by Congress, 
but there are important distinctions between casual armed collisions 
and a state of war. 

[373] 



THE PEOPLE MUST DECIDE 

No treaty can be made by which the United States government 
can agree to substitute the decision of a league of nations for Congress 
in declaring a state of war. Nor can any treaty pass the Supreme 
Court which attempts to create an obligation upon Congress to declare 
war when called upon to do so by an international organization. Nor 
can any treaty pass muster which obliges Congress to accept the man- 
date of another authority regarding the size and composition of the 
United States army, the navy, the fortifications or the armaments 
of the United States or its possessions on land or sea. Nor can any 
treaty be put into effect which would compel the United States to 
send an army overseas against the will of Congress. Nor can any 
treaty be made which deprives the United States of the right to pre- 
serve its neutrality in case of war between two or more foreign nations, 
for denial of this right would be equivalent to denial of the right to 
declare war. Nor can any treaty be made under which, upon the out- 
break of foreign war, the United States would be compelled to sus- 
pend its commerce with any state against the will of Congress. 

If the violent assumption should be made that a treaty could be 
ratified, providing for some of these transfers of national power, and 
that it might be operative in spite of its conflict with the Constitution, 
it should be remembered that any Congress, by a majority vote, may 
set aside such a treaty at any time. It is quite imaginable that an 
executive might endeavor to comply with a treaty obligating the nation 
to make war, suspend commerce or abandon neutrality, and that a 
Congress, wholly disagreeing with the executive, might enact legis- 
lation making the treaty a scrap of paper. But it is not to be pre- 
sumed that any unconstitutional treaty will ever be ratified by the 
Senate, or that any Executive will ever attempt to deny or ignore 
the exclusive power of Congress to declare war, raise an army and 
navy, borrow money and regulate commerce between the States and 
with foreign nations. 

The question whether the United States shall join a league of 
nations must go to the people for decision. The President and the 
Senate, as the treaty-making power, have no power to amend the 
Constitution. Even though the Senate should unanimously ratify a 
treaty transferring the war-making power to a league of nations, still 
the old Constitution would stand unimpaired, and all their effort 
would be vain, unless the people should modify their will as expressed 
in the organic law that controls all parts of the government. 



[374 1 



Tuesday, February 25, 1919 

The Duty of the United States 

WITH stirring eloquence and a depth of feeling that reveals his 
faith in what he advocates, President Wilson outlined yes- 
terday the reason why, in his opinion, the United States must 
now depart from its traditional course, remodel its institutions and 
join the world's nations in a league to insure peace. This address 
will be eagerly read and pondered, and therefore it is unnecessary to 
epitomize it here. Its presentation of the ideal for which America 
fought — the vindication of liberty — is a masterpiece of truth and elo- 
quence. Its statement of the reason why the United States must join 
a league of nations is, in a nutshell, that the world's peoples depend 
upon this nation because of its disinterestedness; that small nations 
coming into being will not be safe except under the protection of the 
United States, and that the United States is now in duty bound to 
share in the work of making liberty safe throughout the world by 
joining a league framed for that purpose. 

All enlightened Americans eagerly admit that the United States 
owes it to the world to sympathize with the lovers of liberty and to 
give them a helping hand. Many Americans will go further and con- 
tend that wherever a free nation's independence is assailed the United 
States should strike down its assailant. 

Nowhere is there any dispute as to the right and duty of the 
United States to take part in the present war. Whether the United 
States went to war solely to defend its rights and then found it was 
aiding in the general defense of liberty, or whether the underlying 
defense of liberty was the controlling motive, does not matter. Every 
American is glad that America's strength gave the final stroke that 
made European nations free. That contribution to universal liberty 
is not begrudged or regretted. 

The proposal is now made to Americans that they should consent 
to a permanent and radical change in their structure of government 
in order to be most useful to the cause of humanity and liberty, and 
they have the opinion of their President that this change is not only 
advisable, but absolutely necessary. The necessity appears to arise 
from the condition in which Europe finds itself and the hopelessness 
of preventing further war unless the United States shall join a league 
of nations. 

[375] 



THE DUTY OF THE UNITED STATES 

The President's deep sincerity impresses every reader of his 
address. He sees no other alternative, no way in which the United 
States can meet foreign expectations and its own duty except by 
joining the league. Nevertheless, his countrymen may fail to reach 
the conviction that this is the only or the best way in which the 
United States can be of service to the world. 

The United States, acting according to its historic policy and in 
harmony with its organic law, decided for itself when and how it 
should go to war. It conducted its operations in its own way without 
entangling itself in alliances with any nations, and it will hardly be 
denied that the independent action of this nation, through its great 
President, contributed far more powerfully to early and overwhelming 
victory than would have been the case if the United States had been 
compelled to subordinate its will to the executive council of a league 
of nations having its headquarters somewhere outside of America. 

Many Americans believe that the true policy for the United 
States to pursue in befriending the world and defending the cause of 
liberty is that of complete, absolute independence of decision and 
action. Why should not the eastern hemisphere's free nations form a 
league of nations, to perform for that hemisphere what the United 
States performs for the western hemisphere? If the eastern half of 
the world should form such a league, constituting a power equivalent 
to the United States and the Pan-American Union, then the western 
republics would gladly clasp hands with it. No doubt the United 
States would then announce a new doctrine, namely, that if any power 
or powers should attack the league of free nations in the eastern 
hemisphere, the United States would regard it as an attack upon 
liberty and free government and would feel itself free to proceed with 
any measures it might deem expedient to aid and sustain the cause 
of liberty. 



[376] 



Thursday, February 27, 1919 
Let the Eastern Hemisphere Combine 

IT IS assumed that the only practicable method of preventing war 
and preserving liberty is by the creation of a league of nations, 

which shall have final authority over the action of all govern- 
ments in certain cases, and that the United States must join such a 
league. Some of the advocates of the league of nations are somewhat 
impatient of inquiry and suggest that those who oppose the league 
are mere obstructionists who do not and cannot suggest any other plan 
of preserving the world's liberty. Mr. Taft, for example, seems to 
have concluded that further efforts to solve the problem are useless ; 
that it must be a world league or nothing. 

Is it true that the world's wisdom has refined the matter down 
to the point where the United States and all other nations must pool 
their sovereignty and transfer the power of decision to an international 
body? With the highest respect it cannot be said that the wisdom 
displayed by the Paris peace conference is such that the nations would 
willingly transfer their free will to it. The American representatives 
in Paris have quite pointedly and properly refused on several occa- 
sions to surrender their opinions to the peace conference. 

The Paris peace conference has not been able to make peace with 
Germany and has not even prevented fighting among the smaller 
nations. It has discussed a league of world peace when it was unable 
to make peace in a portion of Europe. It projects a scheme for com- 
pelling nations to keep the peace when it acknowledges that it dare 
not go into Russia and quell the disturbers of the peace. 

Yet the Paris conference is composed of the world's free nations, 
freshly victorious and able to enforce their will from one end of 
Europe to the other. If they cannot bring themselves to act harmoni- 
ously now, would their membership in a league change their ideas and 
wills? Until they do act harmoniously on the hard and brutal task 
at hand, namely, the shackling of the world's only enemy, is it not in- 
evitable that the outside world should be skeptical of their real desire 
to pool their wills in a league? If, in other words, the world's nations 
cannot act in harmony in disposing of a practical matter before them, 
a matter that threatens their existence unless it is disposed of, can 
they be expected to act harmoniously on an ideal? 

The eastern hemisphere is in turmoil, while the west is at peace 
and is free. Why this difference? Is it not partly at least because 

[377] 



LET THE EASTERN HEMISPHERE COMBINE 

there is a power in the western hemisphere capable of commanding 
and maintaining both peace and freedom? For nearly a century the 
United States, alone, of its sole will, has enforced the doctrine that 
no empire shall be erected on the ruins of democracy anywhere in 
this hemisphere. 

Now that the nations of Europe are free from the menace of Ger- 
many, or can make themselves free by taking practical measures to 
disunite and shackle Germany, why should they not pool their strength 
and create a league of nations dominating the eastern hemisphere? 
The object of the league would be precisely that of the Monroe doc- 
trine — the protection of governments of the people, by the people, for 
the people. 

If France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Poland, Greece, Serbia and 
the other nations of the eastern hemisphere should form a league, 
their combined strength would be sufficient to command and maintain 
both peace and liberty. The United States and all American nations 
would instantly greet such a league and would pledge themselves to 
respect its authority over the eastern hemisphere. The United States 
without doubt would declare that any attack upon the league of 
nations of the eastern hemisphere would be regarded as an attack upon 
universal liberty and therefore a matter of immediate concern to this 
nation, and that it would reserve the right to join with all its resources 
in putting down such an assailant. 

This plan would preserve intact the complete independence of 
the United States and the integrity of the Monroe doctrine, while 
giving to the eastern hemisphere the security which it now lacks. 
There is no entangling alliance in this plan, but there is assurance 
of effective action by the United States in cooperation with free 
nations. The destiny of this nation and hemisphere would not be 
taken from American hands, but the people of Europe would be 
protected. If the league should prove a failure, the experiment would 
not drag the United States into war. 

Let the eastern hemisphere provide a common bulwark of strength 
by combining its free nations. The western hemisphere will always 
act with it in keeping the world free. 



[378 



Friday, February 28, 1919 
The Way to Freedom and Peace 

THOSE who advocate a league of nations of which the United 
States shall be a member are anxious that the league shall be 
strong, so that it may put a stop to wars. They agree that 
there is no use in organizing a league if it is not to be effective in 
maintaining free governments against the aggression of outlaws like 
Germany. Therefore they agree that the league must have authority 
to make war as a last resort. All else failing, overwhelming force 
must be used on the side of liberty to overcome force used on the 
side of wrong. 

That is the lesson that the world has just learned and which need 
not be repeated — the lesson that liberty is safe only when it can 
exert greater brute force than its enemy. 

A league of nations unarmed and unable to use arms would be the 
scoff of aggressive powers, the jest of such outlaws as the Germans, 
and the handy machine of scheming politicians and governments inside 
and outside of the league. 

A league of nations calling upon its members to go to battle and 
meeting with refusal would be a contemptible scrap of paper. To the 
honor of most of the advocates of American membership in the pro- 
posed league they insist that the United States shall be bound by its 
obligation and shall go to war in any cause and in any place any- 
where in the world if the league so decrees. One or two feeble voices 
have been raised, suggesting that the United States need not fear to 
enter the league, because Congress can repudiate and repeal the treaty 
by enacting a law whenever it disagrees with the mandate of the 
league. That is a counsel of dishonor and is a cowardly attempt to 
evade the points of the dilemma upon which league advocates are 
impaled. 

The dilemma is this: The United States cannot by treaty alter 
its form of government, and yet it must alter its form of government 
if it is to join a league of nations which shall have power to compel 
the United States to go to war. 

The heart's core of the proposed league of nations is the vol- 
untary subordination of the national will to an international authority 
having the decision of peace and war. That would mean the transfer 
of the power to declare war from Congress to the international 

[379] 



THE WAY TO FREEDOM AND PEACE 

authority in question. This transfer of power cannot be made by the 
President and the Senate, directly or indirectly. The power was given 
to Congress by the people, and only the people can take it away or 
transfer it to a league. 

A treaty making peace with Germany, containing also a league 
of nations on the plan proposed by the Paris conference, is and will 
remain a scrap of paper so far as the United States is concerned unless 
and until the Constitution is amended by the American people. 

The proposal to change the structure of the United States gov- 
ernment to conform to the projected league is a most difficult, awk- 
ward, tedious and uncertain method of working out peace for the 
world, even assuming that the people will be willing to change their 
government and adopt experiment in place of tested truth. 

Yet the structure of the government must be changed if the 
United States is to be a member of a league containing within itself 
the sole power to wield the strength of the nations against the enemies 
of liberty. 

It is because of this dilemma, as well as because of the manifest 
objections to entering into alliance with other nations, that the 
United States should now declare in favor of the organization of a 
league of nations of the eastern hemisphere only, to deal with the 
eastern hemisphere only. The free nations of that hemisphere have 
it in their power to organize this league at this time under the most 
favorable auspices, with the warm cooperation and friendship of 
every nation in the western half of the world. Once established, the 
league would be recognized by the United States as the guardian of 
free governments in the eastern hemisphere. It would be as para- 
mount as the United States is in the western w T orld and as unham- 
pered in its judgment as to the best method of preserving liberty and 
peace. 

The moral force and influence of the United States and all the 
western nations would support the eastern hemisphere league, and 
thus the great ideal sought by President Wilson — the concentration of 
the moral force of the world — would be achieved without any compli- 
cations or dangers. Then, if that moral force should fail to keep in 
check treacherous powers like Germany, the United States of its own 
free will would go across the ocean and fight shoulder to shoulder 
with the free nations as it has just done. 

It is unnecessary for the United States to change its government 
and abandon its traditions in order that freedom and peace may be 
established in Europe. 

[380] 



Monday, March 3, 1919 
America Cannot Furnish All the Altruism 

LATE advices foreshadow quite clearly the attitude that will be 
_j assumed by the principal nations in the near future. It is 
already evident that two important conditions have been 
created, which will become more apparent as the nations disclose their 
fixed purpose. The two conditions are: 

The allied nations are agreed upon a policy of rigorous disarm- 
ament and punishment of Germany, in which they have the support 
of the American delegation. 

The allied nations are thrusting forward individual demands, 
which, if agreed to, would impose great and unexpected burdens upon 
the United States. 

In the first case, the free nations find it fairly easy to agree upon 
an early peace based upon the complete defeat of Germany. 

In the second case, these nations find it difficult to repress their 
individual desires, in view of the apparent readiness of the American 
delegates to commit the United States to additional acts of generosity. 

President Wilson has surprised his critics by the thoroughgoing 
manner in which he agrees with the allies in the disarmament and 
punishment of Germany. By his cooperation with the allies he has 
made early peace practicable, and has also gained a powerful leverage 
over the allies, who hesitate to oppose his league of nations in the 
face of his hearty cooperation with them. 

If the successful termination of hostilities with Germany and 
Austria-Hungary were the only business before the peace conference, 
there would be little delay and no disagreement among the allies 
which could not be speedily adjusted. But the proposal to make 
the creation of a world league an inseparable part of the peace settle- 
ment is giving rise to delay in peace itself, as well as developing deep- 
seated disagreements among the allies, which are in themselves 
possible causes of war if stirred up. 

The allied nations are under a pressure little appreciated by 
Americans. The necessities resulting from the war leave narrow room 
for altruism, but on the contrary afford all allied statesmen good 
excuses for driving hard bargains at the expense of outsiders, includ- 
ing the United States. Americans will be called upon to exercise 
patience and good temper in the days immediately ahead, for they 

[381] 



AMERICA CANNOT FURNISH ALL THE ALTRUISM 

will see a growing tendency on the part of all the allies to shift much 
of the load of war to the shoulders of the United States. 

It is already assumed that the war's financial burdens will be 
so rearranged as to make the United States responsible for a debt 
far greater than Americans have dreamed of incurring. 

It is also assumed as a matter of course that the United States 
will become the protector of several backward peoples, in distant 
regions, under an arrangement whereby this country will pay all bills, 
maintain armies, transport systems, etc., and be prepared to make 
war if necessary to protect its wards. 

Would it not be well for the allied nations to guard themselves 
against too extravagant assumptions regarding the future action of 
the United States? They may be bitterly disappointed if they cal- 
culate that all the altruism must come from this side of the Atlantic 
and that all the tentative speculative conversation of the American 
delegates will be crystallized into American policy. 

The plan to create a league of nations in which the United States 
would commit itself to go to war on the decision of an executive 
council has not been approved by the United States, and it is impos- 
sible at this time to determine whether or not the people would approve 
of it. They have already declared themselves in favor of successful 
peace settlements with Germany and Austria-Hungary, but they 
might declare themselves overwhelmingly against making the United 
States subordinate to a league of nations. It is quite conceivable, 
therefore, that if the treaty with Germany should contain a plan 
for a league of nations, the treaty might be amended or its approval 
by the Senate delayed until there could be obtained an expression 
from the American people. 

Thus, while Americans were exercising the right to determine 
the destiny of their country, the nations of Europe might be placed 
under excruciating pains and dangers on account of the delay in 
the peace with Germany. Then, if the United States should conclude 
that the league of nations, as proposed, would saddle America with 
all the burdens and give Europe all the benefits, the whole plan 
would fail. 

Let Europe not be too sure that, because the United States has 
been generous, this nation will place its wealth, its strength and its 
independence at the disposal of Europe. 



[382] 



Sunday, March 9, 1919 

A Few Examples 

ARTICLE X of the proposed constitution of the league of nations 
f~\ reads as follows: 

"The high contracting parties undertake to respect and preserve 
as against external aggression the territorial integrity and existing 
political independence of all states members of the league. In case of 
any such aggression or in case of any threat or danger of such aggres- 
sion the executive council shall advise upon the means by which the 
obligation shall be fulfilled." 

No doubt Spain would become a member of the league of nations. 
Therefore its territorial integrity and political independence would 
be respected and preserved against external aggression. If the league 
had been in operation in 1898, the United States could not have gone 
to the rescue of the people of Cuba, notwithstanding the fact that 
an intolerable condition had been created at the very door of the 
United States. The war against Spain was an act of external aggres- 
sion by the United States, an attack upon Spain's territorial integrity 
and absolutely forbidden by the league of nations. 

If the United States, instead of going to war, had appealed to 
the league for an arbitration of the question, Spain would have re- 
fused, on the ground that it was nonjusticiable. Persisting, the 
United States would have asked the executive council of the league 
to inquire into the dispute and make recommendations, and Spain 
would have been compelled to assent. 

But the league of nations is not to have legislative power; there- 
fore, in the Spanish-American dispute the executive council could 
have done nothing more than to apply existing law and advise the 
parties to respect it. Existing law recognized the sovereignty of 
Spain over Cuba, and therefore the United States would have lost 
its case. The people of Cuba would have been at the mercy of their 
oversea exploiters, and up to this hour would not have been in- 
dependent. 

Under the proposed plan of the league of nations there could 
not have been any United States of America. France, if she had 
made aggressive war against Great Britain, would have been crushed 
by the league, and Washington would have had to fight alone, not 
only against Great Britain but against the entire world leagued to 

[383] 



A FEW EXAMPLES 

preserve the status quo. If the colonies had tried to appeal to the 
league for relief, they would probably have met with the reply given 
by President Wilson to senators who questioned him regarding Ire- 
land, "That is not an international question, but one to be settled by 
the parties concerned." The league would have refused to receive 
a complaint against one of its members, lodged by a contumacious and 
revolutionary dependency. It would have referred to the government 
of George III any complaint made by his subjects, George Washing- 
ton, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry or other American agitators. 

Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria made aggressive war against Turkey 
in 1911. That would have been prohibited by the league of nations, 
and Turkey would have been assisted by the combined world in 
repulsing the aggressors and denying their demands. The territory 
claimed by the aggressors had been recognized as belonging to Turkey. 
If the dispute had been arbitrated or dealt with by the proposed 
executive council, the decision inevitably would have been in favor 
of Turkey, for the law was in her favor, and the draft of the league 
of nations makes no provision for enacting international law. Thus 
the Balkan peoples subjected to the Turk could not have obtained 
relief, either by arbitration or by war, if there had been a league 
of nations such as is now proposed. 

In an article appearing elsewhere in today's issue of The Post, 
Gen. William Crozier, the last surviving member of The Hague con- 
ference of 1899, shows how the issues of the war of 1812 and the 
Russo-Japanese war would have been affected by the league of nations. 
He demonstrates that unless the league of nations is empowered with 
the authority to enact international law, injustice and wrong will 
flourish unless they can be dealt with by war. 

There are wars and wars. Americans are too clear-sighted to 
be drawn into any agreement that seeks to abolish war at the expense 
of peoples struggling to be free. They recall their own struggle and 
the war that gave them freedom, and they do not call that war a 
curse. 



[384] 



Monday, March 10, 1919 

The Eastern Half 

THANKS to the timely stupidity of a German-born British king 
the spirit of liberty was brought to a blaze in this country, 
and thanks to a conjunction of immortal intellects the liberty 
gained from England was placed upon an indestructible foundation. 
Liberty had been gained before by daring souls, but it had been lost. 
Liberty has been gained since the American revolution by heroic 
spirits who did not know how to hold the treasure they had gained. 
Eternal vigilance is not only the price, but the steady cost of liberty. 
In order to keep liberty complete and secure there must be a steady 
expenditure of vigilance and effort. 

Europe consists of peoples free, partly free, and bound. The 
bound peoples, especially the Germans, love their fetters and will 
not be free. They do not know what self-government is and do not 
care to know. Their ideal is concentration of force, culminating in 
one center which dominates and controls all elements within the cir- 
cumference. The system built upon their ideal has just been beaten 
back in the attempt by its worshipers to extend it over Europe and the 
whole world. Europe's free and partly free peoples are now able to 
complete their freedom and establish it on solid foundations, if 
they have the wisdom to cooperate and the resolution to bind the 
enemy while he is down. 

It is proposed that all free nations shall join in a league, without 
regard to geographical situation. A constitution for such a league 
has been drawn up. It is incompatible with the system devised by 
the founders of the American republic, and destructive of the plan 
by which the founders made liberty secure in this hemisphere. If 
the plan of the league is approved by the American people, they will 
proceed to remodel their government to conform to the league, and 
they will abandon the plan for protecting the New World. 

Is this necessary? If not actually necessary, is it advisable? 

The eastern half of the world needs what the western half has 
had for a century — liberty, and peace based upon liberty. There is 
no great nation in the eastern hemisphere corresponding to the United 
States in the western. Therefore, let the free nations there pool their 
strength by creating a league. The league, properly organized, could 
act for all of them in defending the single principle that underlies 

[385] 



THE EASTERN HALF 

both liberty and peace — the principle of government of, by and for 
the people. 

The United States does not need to participate in the affairs 
of the eastern hemisphere in order to promote peace. Let the nations 
of the Old World regulate its affairs. Let the Old World league stand 
for free government in that hemisphere, as the United States stands 
for it in this hemisphere. Let the nations in the eastern half of the 
world keep out of this hemisphere, and there is peace. Let the nations 
of this hemisphere keep out of the Old World, and there will be 
peace, provided the free nations there will organize a protective force 
equivalent to the United States. 

The United States does not need to sign a document pledging it 
to go to the rescue of liberty. It has just saved Europe, and will do 
so again if liberty should be so imperiled as to endanger the New 
World. But America does not wish to abdicate its judgment and 
free will, or its method of perpetuating its own liberty. It is willing 
that the Old World should adopt this method, and it would cheerfully 
recognize an Old World Monroe doctrine declared by a league of 
nations of the eastern hemisphere. The United States would not only 
undertake not to interfere in Old World affairs, but would declare a 
new doctrine, supplementary to the Monroe doctrine affecting this 
side of the world. The new doctrine might be stated as follows: 

"The United States recognizes the fact that the free governments 
of the eastern hemisphere have organized a league whose declared 
purpose is the defense in that hemisphere of the principle of govern- 
ment by consent of the governed. The United States hereby declares 
its sympathy with the purpose of said league, and further declares that 
it will regard an attack upon free government in the eastern hemis- 
phere as an attack upon itself. It hereby reserves the right to deal 
with such a situation in any manner that it may deem most expedient." 

That would maintain world peace. It would keep America out 
of Europe and Europe out of the Americas. It would give govern- 
ments in the two hemispheres such towering strength that no enemy 
would dare to attack them. It would provide means where a nation 
of one hemisphere wronged by a nation in the other would find an 
authority to compel prompt and full redress. There could not be 
war between one hemisphere and the other, because free nations 
do not conspire to attack other free nations. 

Think it over, Americans! 



[ 386 ] 



Thursday, March 13, 1919 
The Coming Alternative 

PEACE with the Germans will depend upon the determination 
and ability of the allies to apply force to the treacherous Teu- 
tons whenever they attempt to violate the terms of the treaty 
that they are about to be required to sign. The Germans will violate 
the treaty immediately and always unless they are under the fear of 
compulsion and punishment. 

Although the scheme for a league of nations is not in the treaty 
with Germany, it is reported that the treaty will contain many pro- 
visions looking to the execution of its terms through the medium of 
the proposed league. The Germans apparently are to be held in check 
by the executive council of the league of nations. They are to be 
kept back of the Rhine, limited as to military and naval strength 
and equipment, brought to book in making indemnity payments, 
supervised in the return of stolen material and otherwise directed by 
the league of nations. This seems to be the plan which President 
Wilson has been chiefly instrumental in bringing into existence at 
Paris. The threads of the treaty with Germany are to run into the 
league of nations and be so intertwined with the league that the 
United States Senate and the American people must accept the league, 
it is said, if they wish to make the peace treaty with Germany. 

The reason assigned by supporters of the league for this pro- 
cedure is that there is no other way of maintaining peace after it 
shall have been obtained. They contend that unless there is a league 
there can be no peace worth while. 

It was a heavy responsibility which President Wilson assumed 
when he committed the United States, so far as he could commit it, 
to the "covenant" of the league of nations. That "covenant" as 
drawn is repugnant to the Constitution of the United States and full 
of provisions which will cause no end of mischief and more than one 
war. The people of the United States will never accept such a 
"covenant." To do so would be more disastrous than continued war 
with Germany. When the matter is understood the people will choose 
the lesser of two evils and postpone peace with Germany rather than 
tie themselves to a compact which means, as it stands, the surrender 
of American independence. 

Presumably the "covenant" is to be amended. There are inti- 
mations that this paragraph is to be patched up and that article 

[ 387 ] 



THE COMING ALTERNATIVE 

tinkered, in order to safeguard the United States. The Post has no 
hesitation in predicting that there will be hardly a vestige of the so- 
called "covenant" left after the people of the United States have 
dealt with it. It is impossible to patch and tinker it to conform 
wholly to the American spirit and the American structure of govern- 
ment. It was written by somebody totally ignorant of the American 
system of government and the American method of maintaining 
human freedom. The quickest and safest way to deal with it is 
to recast it altogether. 

If the Paris peace conference does not reconstruct the constitu- 
tion of the proposed league of nations to make it in harmony with 
the American system of government, the United States Senate will 
either amend it or reject it. That is what the Senate is for. It has 
performed such work for more than a century. The Senate will 
commit no such blunder as to attempt by treaty to amend the Con- 
stitution. In a situation which compels the Senate to deal with a 
treaty attempting to alter fundamental law, there can be only one 
result. 

The viewpoint of other nations and the viewpoint of the United 
States are not quite the same. The allied nations must have effective 
peace and American help and, therefore, they are ready to commit 
themselves to a league of nations if the President of the United States 
tells them that this nation makes such action an indispensable con- 
dition of further cooperation by the United States. But the United 
States is not under the dire necessity of immediate peace, nor is it 
compelled to defer to the judgment of a more powerful neighbor whose 
assistance is a vital necessity. Therefore the people of the United 
States are free to consider this subject deliberately and fully before 
taking a decisive step. They know that their loyal friendship for the 
allies will not grow cool. They know that they will assist Europe 
with food, money and encouragement. But they know also that there 
is nothing in the situation which compels the United States to rush 
headlong into an international agreement before its meaning and 
consequences can be understood. 



[388] 



Friday, March 14, 1919 

The Voyage of Josephus 

WHEN the world was prostrated by the announcement that 
Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy, had on his mere 
fiat abolished the words "starboard" and "port" and sub- 
stituted therefor the words "left hand" and "right hand," no satis- 
factory reason was forthcoming from the oracle to account for the 
mysterious order. Speculation was universal, and mankind bit the 
finger of astonishment; but mystery enveloped the subject, like the 
impenetrable fog that has befuddled the Navy Department ever since 
it pleased an inscrutable Providence to subject it to the caprice of the 
still more inscrutable Daniels. Wars came and armistices followed, 
but the mystery remained. It is only at this late hour that the truth 
is revealed. 

Josephus Daniels is going to Europe! He is about to take the 
water! He feels the thrill of life along his keel! As Secretary of 
the Navy it is his right to remain safely away from salt water, en- 
grossed in the congenial task of overruling the recommendations of 
men whose lives have been devoted to the navy. But there is a higher 
right, and Josephus boldly exercises it — the right to butt into inter- 
national affairs at an inopportune time. As chief blunderer of the 
administration the Secretary of the Navy now prepares to look the 
ocean in the face, to pluck Neptune by the beard. But he does not 
care to be lost on the waste of waters, and for that reason, with long 
foresight and deep cunning, he made the momentous change of 
nautical terminology at which the whole world wondered. Now he can 
go forth, knowing his right hand from his left, and by careful dis- 
crimination between them he can be reasonably sure of bumping 
into the coast of Europe or Africa. 

Envious critics of Josephus Daniels' greatness have said that his 
trip to Europe is unnecessary, a pure extravagance and a drain upon 
the Treasury. They have insisted that experts alone should go abroad, 
if it is advisable to gather further information concerning the latest 
types of warcraft. But this criticism is pure malice and rests upon 
a poor foundation. Do not these critics know that any recommenda- 
tion made by experts is always rejected by Secretary Daniels? The 
waste would be in sending experts, for their reports would be treated 
as scraps of paper. 

[389] 



THE VOYAGE OF JOSEPHUS 

The malice of any criticism of Secretary Daniels' voyage lies in 
envy of his standing among the powers of the earth and resentment 
against the honors that are about to be showered upon him by grateful 
nations. Here, also, the critics are wrong. By virtue of one or two 
bold strokes of unadulterated bungling Josephus Daniels has not only 
prevented the expansion of the United States navy, but has held up 
the construction that was under way. If that action is not sufficient 
to win for him the genuine gratitude of rival naval powers, what 
greater blunder must be committed? Has not Josephus Daniels richly 
earned the titles, decorations, medals, ribbons and banquets that are 
about to be bestowed upon him? Which one of his critics could under- 
take to make greater and more far-reaching blunders? It is one 
thing for them to criticize and another to execute. Let them outdo 
Josephus Daniels, or forever hold their peace. 

Moreover, in addition to what Mr. Daniels has already accom- 
plished, vast fields of activity await his genius upon his arrival in 
Europe. The situation is ripe for strange developments. In his zeal 
for "helping papa" is it not possible for Josephus Daniels to conceive 
and blurt out some transcendent masterpiece of folly, some miracle 
of maladroitness that will compel the entire world to acclaim him as 
the emperor of absurdity? There are many things yet which the 
United States can give away. The depths of altruism and prodigality 
have not been sounded. We hold that Josephus Daniels has not 
reached the climax of his career. We confidently believe that he will 
make rich and rare discoveries on his forthcoming voyage, which will 
eclipse even his own former achievements and cause a delighted uni- 
verse to take the crown from Don Quixote and place it on the head of 
Don Josephus, the Columbus of Blunderland. 

On, on, undaunted voyager! Heed not such barbarous words as 
starboard and port! Keep from thy right hand all knowledge of 
what thy left is doing! Trust not to the advice of old salts, but place 
thy trust in thine own intuitive ignorance! On, Josephus, on! 



390 



Monday, March 17, 1919 
A Mistaken Foreign Assumption 

THERE is grumbling in Paris and London because the United 
States Constitution stands in the way of a quick adjustment 
of certain outstanding questions. But for the Constitution, it 
is said, the general treaty of peace, containing the projected league 
of nations, would have been framed by this time. 

It is also reported by reliable correspondents that President 
Wilson stands firmly for the "covenant," and that he resents all sug- 
gestions for amendments. He does not even intend to propose or 
accept an amendment reserving the principle of the Monroe doctrine. 
He intends to force the covenant through as it is written, for the 
reason that if he suggests any amendment the representatives of 
other nations will offer amendments, thereby giving rise to disputes, 
which will greatly delay or even destroy the project. 

These reports from Paris are just cause for grave disquietude, 
inasmuch as they foreshadow delay in making peace — a delay that 
may work terrible hardship to France, Belgium, Italy, Serbia, Rou- 
mania and perhaps Great Britain — but they do not in the slightest 
degree change the attitude of the American people or the method 
whereby they register their will. 

No treaty made by any representatives of the United States will 
have any validity whatever unless and until it is approved by the 
Senate. The governments concerned are all aware of this feature of 
American government, but perhaps they have mistaken the popularity 
of President Wilson as evidence that whatever he may approve will 
be approved offhand by the United States. That assumption, if acted 
upon, may lead to serious misunderstanding. The European govern- 
ments will do well to bear always in mind the possibility of the 
United States overruling or altering the tentative engagements 
signed by its representatives in Paris. 

An example has already been given in the course of the Paris 
negotiations which ought to serve as a warning to Europe that 
nothing is settled, so far as the United States is concerned, until it 
is settled by the United States itself. It will be admitted, no doubt, 
that President Wilson was well pleased with the covenant of the 
league of nations, and would have committed the United States to it, 
word for word, if the decision had been left to him. Yet, after only 

[391] 



A MISTAKEN FOREIGN ASSUMPTION 

a month of discussion, much of it merely preliminary, it is now evi- 
dent that the covenant is not acceptable to the people of the United 
States and will not be accepted by them unless it is radically changed. 
No man in the United States except President Wilson insists upon 
the letter of the covenant as it stands. Every one else acknowledges 
that the covenant must be changed if the United States is to join the 
league of nations. 

If this emphatic proof of the difference between the President's 
will and the national will is brought to light before the treaty is sub- 
mitted to the Senate, European governments should by all means be 
careful not to take steps based upon a mere belief that the treaty will 
be ratified exactly as it was signed by the American delegates. 

The American people want early peace. They have tried to 
induce their Paris delegates to hurry peace negotiations. But the 
people are not so anxious for peace that they will trade their inde- 
pendence for it. They will not, for the sake of peace, accept without 
scrutiny a bargain which on its face commits the United States to 
perpetual membership in a league whose scope and powers are so 
poorly defined that even its supporters disagree concerning them. 
This nation can and will take its time to ascertain exactly what is 
proposed. It will go very far in its effort to assist in forming an 
effective world league to prevent wars. It does not balk at the prin- 
ciple of a league. But it does emphatically balk at the suggestion 
of taking blindfolded a project hastily scrambled together by a few 
gentlemen in Paris under the urgency of what they believed to be 
the will of the American people. 

The covenant drawn up by those gentlemen is not in the American 
spirit. It is in collision with the American Constitution and Amer- 
ican methods of preserving liberty and peace. It was not written 
by an American, or by any person familiar with the American govern- 
ment. It is not necessary to peace with Germany. It is an intru- 
sion at this time, out of proper order, and a stumbling block to early 
peace. Any foreign government may, if it chooses, make the mistake 
of confusing the act of the American representatives in Paris as the 
act of the United States, but the United States itself will make no 
such mistake. 



392 



Sunday, March 30, 1919 

Victor Nations Will Prevail 

WHENEVER the agents of the victorious nations can bring 
themselves to use the force at their disposal they can have 
peace and order. So long as they encourage Prussianism and 
bolshevism by a show of mixed idealism, dissension, greed and coward- 
ice, they need not expect the vicious elements to remain quiet. 

The world is not at the mercy of either Prussianism or bolshe- 
vism — not at all. It is not at the mercy of the peace delegates at 
Paris, either. If Prussianism rears its head again, it will be punished. 
Bolshevism will die or be killed. If the peace delegates at Paris do 
not do their duty, they will be swept aside. 

During the war there was a succession of ministers that moved 
so swiftly that they seemed to be racing. Whoever failed to make 
good was put aside automatically, without any discussion. The 
nations destroyed the incompetent as a necessary part of the process 
of self-preservation. The stress of war accentuated the rapid changes 
of ministries, but the process is going on all the time. It is going on 
now. Let the nations be confronted with real danger, and they will 
topple over their incompetents like a row of tenpins. 

The peoples of the victorious nations are not afraid of Prus- 
sianism or bolshevism. They have shattered the arm of militarism, 
and bolshevism has no physical or moral terrors for people that are 
strong and well. But the victorious peoples are getting into an ugly 
mood because of the unnecessary and costly strain that is put upon 
them by the failure of their agents to harvest the fruits of victory. 

France and England and Italy are hard pressed. They cannot 
return to production a moment too soon. Their normal life is sus- 
pended while the peace delegates prolong the fruitless discussions at 
Paris. France must have equipment with which to keep her people 
at work. England must have all doubt removed regarding a resump- 
tion of war, so that her people may return to peace work. Italy is 
keeping up a large army under the threat of war by the imperialist 
clique that controls Jugoslavia. Some of these Jugoslavs were lately 
allied with the enemy. Only a few weeks ago a Jugoslav, Gen. 
Boroevic, was commander-in-chief of the Hapsburg armies that tore 
at Italy's throat. He did not join the allies. 

As for the United States, it is undeniable that its people are 
becoming resentful of the intrusion of the American delegates between 

[393] 



VICTOR NATIONS WILL PREVAIL 

the victorious European nations and the vanquished enemy. If France 
is to recover, Germany must pay. Why does America interpose ob- 
stacles to the recovery of France? That is what many Americans 
ask. Why does America deny to Italy that which belongs to Italy; 
that which is indispensable to the existence of a free and independent 
Italy? Why does America threaten to build a tremendous navy, 
greater than Britain's, at a time when cooperation and good will be- 
tween the two English-speaking nations is highly desirable if not 
indispensable to the world's welfare? The events of the last six 
months, including the elections of November 5, prove that this Amer- 
ican interference with France, England and Italy is not an expression 
of the will of the people, but is directly contrary to their will. How 
long can the agent go contrary to his master's will before he will be 
called to account? 

A lot of breath is wasted on the statement that the difficulties 
of making peace are so great as to be almost insuperable. We all 
know better. We all know that the worst difficulties have been man- 
ufactured. They are not inherent in the European situation. If the 
difficulties that have been deliberately thrust into the negotiations 
were brushed aside, the enemy could be shackled and bolshevism 
could be extinguished in short order. What is needed is not a Hamlet, 
full of dreams, "to be or not to be," but a Foch, inspired by the 
genius of freedom. 

The victory will not be frittered away. The cost of it was too 
great, and the fruits of it are too badly needed by the free peoples 
of the world. They will act, if their agents fail to act. They will act 
through new agents, men of action and force. In those new hands 
the nations will place the forces that have saved the world. Doubt 
and feebleness will be blown to atoms along with Prussianism and 
bolshevism. 

Who is so disturbed that he expects the free men of the world 
to surrender their freedom? Who is so deluded as to think that feeble- 
ness and futility will control the nations that have just destroyed the 
enemy of liberty? 

Whether the talkers and dreamers at Paris will it or not, the 
flags of freedom will go forth and prevail over the powers of darkness. 



[394] 



Saturday, April 5, 1919 
Look Beneath the Surface 

SEVERAL important factors are contributing to the pessimism 
that now fills the newspapers concerning the proceedings at Paris. 
When these factors are analyzed, instead of being merely grouped 
as insoluble problems, we think it will appear that the pessimistic 
reports are exaggerated. 

First let it be remembered that the purveyors of news do not and 
cannot ascertain and report all the facts. They have possession of 
public facts, and from them they are drawing deductions, which 
lean heavily toward pessimism. The facts not disclosed, which 
probably are as important as any disclosed facts, are in possession 
of the four men who are piecing together the arrangement that is 
hoped to bring peace now and hereafter. 

Is it safe to draw conclusions from a partial knowledge of facts? 
No man dares to do this in his private affairs. The judicious man 
will not do so in considering the peace proceedings. 

Among the factors that are contributing to the prevailing pessi- 
mism are these: 

Secrecy at Paris. 

The Hungarian developments. 

The fact, now almost universally recognized, that the creation 
of an effective league of nations is impossible. 

The dread that the allied powers will recognize the Lenine gov- 
ernment. 

Concerning secrecy, it is now seen that President Wilson spoke 
loosely, when he discussed the propositions of "secret diplomacy" and 
"open covenants openly arrived at." What he has in mind everybody 
knows and approves; that is, the abolition of the system of trans- 
ferring the control of peoples from one dynasty to another without 
any regard for the wishes of the people themselves. But Mr. Wilson 
did not make clear the fact that secrecy is as necessary to honest 
men as it is to knaves, when knaves are about. In order to achieve 
a peace that will secure government based on consent of the governed, 
it is necessary that there shall be secrecy during the discussions of 
the representatives of the peoples. There is still an enemy, an evil 
intelligence that is ingenious in thwarting the desires of well-disposed 
nations. There is also an impatient and ignorant element in allied 

[395] 



LOOK BENEATH THE SURFACE 

countries which can only injure the cause of universal justice by inter- 
meddling with complex questions. 

It is highly probable that the secrecy of the four principal figures 
at Paris covers tentative and partly completed plans of the most 
admirable kind, which, if they can be perfected, will adjust the deli- 
cate questions at issue to the general satisfaction. Surely it is not 
reasonable to assume that all information withheld from the public 
is evil, blundering and provocative of strife. 

Hungarian bolshevism is given an importance that it does not 
deserve. 

Let it be borne in mind that the under-dog Magyars have been 
peons for centuries and that their masters are junkers in the closest 
possible partnership with the Prussian junkers. That being the struc- 
ture of Hungary, a war is fought and lost, resulting in the keenest 
suffering by the peons. Add to this a natural predatory spirit and an 
opportunity to attack neighboring peoples, and the result is Hun- 
garian bolshevism. But this bolshevism will be more active in Hun- 
gary than outside, and it will kill off many dangerous enemies of 
the human race. The allies can easily beat back any predatory 
Magyars who wander off their own grounds. 

As for the projected league of nations, why should there be pes- 
simism in the exposure of its inherent frailties? Rather should there 
be rejoicing, especially among Americans, who were threatened with 
incalculable harm by being driven into a ruinous alliance under the 
spur of a popular emotion, holy in its spirit and utterly reckless in 
its action. The United States now stands freed from the danger of 
the annihilation of its bulwarks. Therefore it is strong to aid the 
afflicted, feed the hungry, ward off the insane bolsheviki and smash 
the enemy. 

There remains the dread of recognition of the bolshevik regime. 
That would be a calamity to all mankind. An explosion will surely 
follow if the British and American governments clasp hands with 
Lenine. even for temporary and opportunist reasons. But they have 
not done so yet. and the warnings from England and America may 
have swerved the heads of the two governments away from the idea. 
The question stands merely as a dread, not a fact. It has an ugly 
aspect, but it may be nothing but an apparition after all. 

High above all these stands the eternal fact that humanity has 
struck down its would-be murderer. The nations that act as trustees 
for free mankind are an effective league to enforce the victory and 
therefore peace. 

[396] 



Monday, .'. *. W, 1919 
No Alliance Needed or Advisable 

WHILE the Unite t States v - coming into existence a treaty of 
alliance was made with France. Th I is the only treaty of 
alliance which the United St tes has r made, and it « 

not made under the existing Constitution. 

The spirit and structure of the government of the United Stat s 
do not harmonize with leagues and alliances. The : t is ::en over- 
looked, by Ameri - - ~eH as foreigner- that :he United States 
government differs from all others. It was purposely made different; 
its :zerence mak— it -:rong. and any effort to change its funda- 
mental powers or their limitations is an attack upon the stability of 
the government. Fortunately the government always surv: 
attacks, from whatever sources they come. The structure stands 
- - : - :ed. because it k -ed upon truth. The inventors 
of political panaceas and the easy politicians who would trade 
permanent blessings for temporary adva: a been innumerable. 

They have assailed the Constitution in vain. They die. and then- 
works die with them. The Constitution remains. 

The United St - is more friendly to France th 
nation. The life of France will not t if the Unit IE 

can prevent it. Ye: the people of the United States "^ill not enter 
into an alliance with France or any other nation. Th. I :ught 

to be well understood by this time: but if it is not. it will be duly 
impressed upon any man or any party that attempts to embroil this 
nation in a compact binding it to perform certain things in the un- 
known future, under unknown conditions, contingent upon the a 
of foreigners. 

The reason why the United States ill not enter into an alliance 
with any nation is simple and clear. It is because this nat 
be of more service to its friends and more damaging to its enemies 
when outside of an alliance than within one. 

An alliance would mean nothing unless it committed the United 
States to a certain action under certain contingencies. But the 
United States cannot advantageously be committed in advance to 
pursue any fixed course in such an important busir_— - This 

nation must be free to do wh: ' is si :he time it is called upon 
to act. 

An alliance with France and G: in requiring this nation 

[3971 



NO ALLIANCE NEEDED OR ADVISABLE 

to declare war, if either of those nations should be attacked, might 
work to the utter defeat of the object of the treaty. A President of 
one political party and a Congress of another might lock horns and 
prevent any action whatever. The treaty might be construed as 
delivering the nation over to other nations whose blunders drove them 
into unnecessary war. Or the United States might be drawn into 
war at the wrong time, when by the exercise of its own judgment it 
could have rendered far better service to its friends. 

No foreigners can ever be better judges than Americans of Amer- 
ica's temper, resources and readiness. No foreigner can tell better 
than an American when and where the United States can deliver the 
most telling blow in war. To the extent that foreign judgment enters' 
into control of America's decisions, those decisions will be dangerously 
infirm because of insufficient knowledge of American psychology. 

Some persons firmly believe that the United States should have 
rushed into the European war when Germany invaded Belgium. They 
think such a course would have saved France and Britain great losses. 
What proof have they? Is it not quite possible that the disorgani- 
zation resulting from sudden and unexpected war would have pre- 
vented America from delivering the food and materials which enabled 
France and Britain to hold Germany back? Not men, but the in- 
stantaneous delivery of materials, was the thing then most needed; 
and if the United States had become involved in its own war prepara- 
tions it might not have been able to look after the wants of other 
nations. It could have been in the war sooner, but in the meantime 
France and England might have been defeated. It must not be for- 
gotten that the United States for two years was the reservoir from 
which France, England, Russia and their allies drew freely all the 
supplies they needed. They could not have done that, if the United 
States had immediately diverted its resources to the creation and 
supply of its own armies. 

No league of nations is needed to keep the United States on 
the side of liberty and free government. No alliance is needed to 
compel the United States to defend France against Germany. This 
nation, in its own way, according to its own best judgment, unfettered 
by obligations made in the dark, will always befriend nations that 
are fighting for the principle of government by the consent of the 
governed. If those nations cannot withstand the attacks, the United 
States will itself go forward and beat off the assailant without any 
treaty obligation to do so. It will not see government of the people, 
by the people, for the people perish from the earth. 

[398] 



Friday, April 25, 1919 
Allies Must Remain Friends 

THE peace delegates at Paris are going forward with wonderful 
optimism, on the assumption that the denial of guarantees of 
security and equality to certain great nations will not prevent 
the making of peace and the creation of a league of nations, which 
will take control of the entire world upon the ratification of the 
peace treaty. One of the aims of the United States when it entered 
the war was to "make the world safe for democracy," but when the 
American delegates entered the peace conference there was an im- 
mediate charge that they were preventing the democracies from 
making themselves safe. 

The last democracy to be denied the safety it seeks is Italy. In 
this case there is no disguising the fact that it is President Wilson 
himself who seeks to prevent Italy from making its borders secure 
against another invasion by the German and Austrian Huns. Pres- 
ident Wilson appeals to Italy to accept his decision, which he inti- 
mates is the decision of the people of the United States. There is 
nothing of record to indicate the position of the people of this coun- 
try, however, except the general expression of the elections last No- 
vember, which Mr. Wilson announced beforehand would constitute 
a repudiation of his policies in the eyes of Europe if the people should 
fail to elect a Democratic Congress. They failed. Therefore, when 
Americans suggest that Premier Orlando and Baron Sonnino do not 
represent the real opinion of Italy, it is quite logical for the Italians 
to retort that President Wilson does not represent the real opinion of 
America. 

There is now a breach beween the United States and Italy. It is 
pregnant with danger — not the minor danger of direct war, but the 
greater danger of permanent estrangement and hatred. That would 
be a most deplorable outcome of the Paris conference, more destructive 
in its consequences than a failure to make peace with Germany. Ger- 
many is down and out, and if the United States did not make any 
formal peace for several years, this country would not suffer. Italy, 
however, is one of the five trustees of the world's civilization and 
liberty, and an estrangement between Italians and Americans would 
make impossible a league of nations worthy of the name. 

The friendship of France, England, Italy, Japan and the United 
States is the prime factor of the world's peace and security. That 

[399] 



ALLIES MUST REMAIN FRIENDS 

friendship has just saved the world from slavery to the Hohenzollern 
and Hapsburg systems of absolutism. The first duty of these nations 
is to preserve their mutual friendship. This duty stands before peace 
with Germany. The greatest desire of the Hun is to break up the 
friendship of the allies. During the fighting the dire necessity of 
survival compelled the allies to work together. The beginning of 
the peace conference marked the opening of the period of greatest 
danger to the allies, which was duly pointed out by The Post at the 
time. We expressed the ardent hope that the allies would appreciate 
the danger that surrounded them. We suggested that the enemy 
would strain every nerve to drive the allies apart, in the critical period 
when they would be required to adjust their claims and formulate 
their demands upon the enemy. 

Nothing can ever take the place of friendship and confidence 
among the five nations that have formed the league of liberty. If 
they fall apart, the enemy thrives. They need not make alliances 
with the enemy in order to upset the world. The mere estrangement 
of the allies is enough for the Huns and the bolsheviki. In that es- 
trangement these savage enemies, representing the extremes of 
autocracy and anarchy, would find ample opportunity for attacking 
and slaughtering human liberty. 

No paper league of nations and no peace with Germany will 
keep peace in this world if the five leading nations become enemies. 
We all know that peace with Germany is not genuine peace, but a 
truce until Germany can go on the warpath again. We all know that 
a league of nations which fails to include Italy, Japan, Germany and 
Russia is a declaration of war against those nations which will compel 
them to become allies. Better that each free nation should stand alone 
than to form a league which would provoke war. 

America's first attempt to interfere in European affairs is a sorry 
experience, indeed. Few are the Americans who do not wish the Pres- 
ident had kept the country out of the position of dictator to all the 
allies, and that he had not sought to deny to each of the allies a por- 
tion of its claims against the enemy. The inevitable result of such 
action is the growth of unfriendly feeling toward all the people of 
the United States and the well-nigh universal belief, which we believe 
to be utterly unfounded, that the United States has deliberately 
shielded the world's enemy from the punishment which he so richly 
earned. 

Let us hope that the patience and genuine friendship of all the 
allies toward Americans will not fail in these trying days. 

[400] 



Sunday, April 27, 1919 

Fiume, Danzig and Kiaochow 

MANY rumors are current regarding the ulterior purpose of 
the American delegation in Paris. It seems to be taken as a 
matter of course that President Wilson has some hidden ob- 
jective in his opposition to the claims of Italy. One of the favorite 
hints of his critics is that he is really aiming at Japan, and that, for 
the sake of protecting China in its Shantung territory, he must be 
consistent by supporting the Jugoslavs in claiming Fiume. It is also 
insisted that Fiume and Danzig are on all fours, namely, that if the 
Poles are entitled to Danzig the Jugoslavs are equally entitled to 
Fiume. 

A little inquiry will show that these assertions are erroneous. 
The naked truth is that the Poles are entitled to Danzig, the Italians 
to Fiume and the Chinese to Kiaochow. 

Fiume is Italian in population and by the right of self-determina- 
tion. It has proclaimed its desire to rejoin the Italian people. The 
Jugoslavs never possessed Fiume. The volume of Jugoslav commerce 
passing through Fiume is less than 10 per cent. There is no good 
reason why Fiume should not be restored to Italy with a proviso that 
the populations in the hinterland should enjoy free and equal use of 
the port. 

No human skill can apportion Europe so that each flag shall 
cover one people and no other. The attempt to perform this feat is 
foolish and provocative of war. Diverse peoples can live happily and 
freely under any of the civilized flags of Europe. There is no excuse 
for a deadlock over Fiume, and the weary and panting millions who 
have just come through blood and tears will not take any excuse from 
the statesmen at Paris who drive peace away. 

The Polish people are entitled to Danzig on the same grounds 
that the Italians are entitled to Fiume. Danzig is a Polish city and 
was formerly under the Polish flag. It was stolen from Poland by 
the Hohenzollerns as Fiume was stolen by the Hapsburgs. There 
are Germans in Danzig, but they can live at least as freely under 
the Polish flag as under the black flag of Prussia. Are the robbers 
to be allowed to keep their loot because they have held it a long 
time, or are the owners to receive first consideration? Danzig is as 
Polish as Warsaw, and Fiume is as Italian as Rome. The Paris 

[401] 



FIUME. DANZIG AND KIAOCHOW 

peace conference is reluctantly and timidly trying to give Poland 
the city that was robbed from her, but not even that much is granted 
to Italy in the case of Fiume. Instead, an attempt is made to show 
that Italy is herself a greedy imperialist. 

Instead of laying down a precedent for denying Kiaochow to the 
Japanese, President Wilson may create a precedent at Fiume whereby 
Japan may strengthen her claim to territory that belongs to China. 
If the Jugoslavs are permitted to take Fiume away from Italy, the 
Japanese have a color of right to take Kiaochow away from the 
Chinese, for they can show that they need Kiaochow, that they con- 
quered it from the Germans, and that in ousting the Germans they 
rightfully succeeded to all German rights. 

The world will not slide into a season of blissful peace and good 
will among men if the Paris peace conference denies rights and cham- 
pions wrongs. There is a conflict among President Wilson's fourteen 
points, notably the clash of self-determination versus sea outlets. 
Self-determination gives Fiume to Italy, but it is deemed necessary 
to deprive Italy of Fiume in order to give the Jugoslavs a sea outlet. 
Why this outlet cannot be provided without denying the principle of 
self-determination is not explained. 

Danzig ought to go to the Poles, together with the territory be- 
hind it, which was robbed from Poland. But because there are Huns 
planted in that region the principle of self-determination is invoked, 
in favor of the enemy, to deprive the Poles of everything except a 
"corridor" to the sea. Danzig itself is to be made free, so that the 
enemy will be safe there. Why is Danzig to be free to the Huns 
and Fiume closed to the Italians? The "corridor" through which 
the Poles will approach Danzig will be an excellent arrangement for 
the Huns, facilitating the easy attack and quick slaughter of Poles 
in the future. 

Fiume, Danzig and Kiaochow present, in short, attempted inter- 
ference with national rights and the promotion of predatory schemes 
against rightful owners. 



[402] 



Wednesday, April 30, 1919 

The Constitution Is a Covenant 

ON APRIL 6, 1917, the United States declared war on Germany 
and on December 7, 1917, it declared war on Austria-Hungary. 
The declarations were made by Congress, as provided by the 
Constitution. There were no treaties of alliances with other nations, 
no leagues of nations or other compulsions or restraints to direct or 
control the will of the United States. The resources of the United 
States were pledged to the successful prosecution of the war, and the 
President was called upon to press it to a successful termination. 

That is the only direction which the President has received from 
the people through their representatives. They did not authorize or 
direct him to enter into any working alliance with any other nation, 
and he very properly refrained from becoming entangled in the Euro- 
pean alliance, although he cooperated with the allies, as he was ex- 
pected to do. 

The people have never outlined to the President their will regard- 
ing the manner of making peace. They have never told him to go 
to Paris and join in the discussion of European quarrels. They have 
never authorized him to agree with the allies that the United States 
would not make a separate peace. 

The peoples have not authorized the President to assist in nego- 
tiating a joint treaty of peace with Germany. The wording of the 
declarations of war and the history of American policy indicate 
clearly that Congress and the people expected the United States to 
make separate peace with Germany and Austria-Hungary whenever 
tnose empires had been defeated and were ready to surrender uncon- 
ditionally to the United States. 

The proposition that the United States should make peace with 
Germany and Austria-Hungary only on conditions which involve this 
nation forever in the concerns of Europe is not supported by anything 
that Congress has ever enacted or that the people have ever authorized. 
The conditions attached to peace with the enemy have not been at- 
tached by the people of the United States or by the treaty-making 
power. 

The assumption that the people of the United States will now, 
for the sake of making a joint treaty with Germany, abandon the 
fixed policy of the nation and join in an agreement to guarantee the 

[403] 



THE CONSTITUTION IS A COVENANT 

territorial integrity and political independence of a large number of 
nations, is a dangerous assumption for those nations that may rely 
upon it. They have no warrant from the American people to pre- 
sume that this nation will take upon itself the quarrels of the world. 
If that presumption was raised because of the willingness of American 
representatives at Paris to interfere in the affairs of other nations, it 
should be borne in mind always that the United States is a peculiar 
nation and is not responsible for promises or pledges unless they are 
made by the treaty-making power. American history is full of tenta- 
tive pledges, threats, promises of reward, intrigue and proposed en- 
tanglements agreed upon by America's temporary representatives and 
killed off by the treaty-making power. They are all scraps of paper 
and were never anything else. 

The joint treaty with Germany, including the arrangement called 
the league of nations, is a scrap of paper so far as the United States 
is concerned, until and unless the treaty-making power shall approve 
it in the manner prescribed by the people. This treaty is so widely 
different from the peace that was looked for by the people, and 
creates so many novel and dangerous departures from American policy, 
that it will be rigorously scrutinized by the Senate. If in the opinion 
of the Senate the treaty is an attempt to set aside or override the 
powers allotted to the government in the Constitution, the treaty will 
be amended or rejected, notwithstanding it is a treaty of peace. 

The integrity of the United States, the continued observance of 
the covenant already existing — that is, the Constitution — require that 
there shall not be a new covenant which will make the Constitution 
a scrap of paper. There are provisions of the league covenant which 
seem to set aside the Constitution. Inasmuch as the President and 
Senate, constituting the treaty-making power, cannot override the 
Constitution, the points in controversy must either be reconciled or 
the league covenant must fail. It is not a question of partisanship 
or even of peace with Germany. Both partisanship and peace are 
minor matters whenever the independence and security of the United 
States are in question. 

The people of the United States have gone through many ordeals, 
but they have never yet been compelled to make peace with an enemy 
by sacrificing their liberty or their country's institutions. 



[404 



Sunday, May 4, 1919 
China's Indictment 

THE process by which Japan has been induced to become a mem- 
ber of the league of nations in spite of the refusal to recognize 
her as an equal is strikingly disclosed by the statement of the 
Chinese delegates to the Paris peace conference. Japan is granted 
a strangle hold upon territory and commercial privileges that belong 
to her neighbor, and the Chinese people in their weakness are left 
the privilege of voicing a vain protest. 

Another secret treaty comes to light also, which bargained away 
China's territory and sovereign rights without her knowledge or 
consent. This secret treaty was made in February and March, 1917, 
and all knowledge of it was withheld from China, which entered the 
war as a faithful ally in August, 1917, not knowing that Great Britain 
and France had already agreed to support the transfer to Japan of 
Germany's holdings in Shantung. It does not appear that Italy was 
a party to the treaty. The treaty requires Great Britain and France 
to stand by Japan in the peace conference, and they have done so. 

Where is the "new order in Europe" and the inflexible and im- 
partial application of the fourteen points? The Chinese statement is 
a withering indictment of the Paris conference as a body devoted 
to the creation of open covenants openly arrived at. First against 
Italy, and now against China, the American delegates have adopted 
a position that is incompatible with the spirit of America and repug- 
nant to all ideas of the "square deal." In one case the American del- 
egation has taken the lead proposing to deprive a friendly nation of 
its territory, largely on the ground that the nation in question was 
involved in a secret and therefore illegitimate treaty. In the other 
case, the American delegation has not taken the lead, but it has ac- 
quiesced in putting into effect a secret treaty which deprives another 
friendly nation of its territory. 

In both cases the representatives of the United States have gone 
far afield, entering into the affairs of another hemisphere, and in one 
case at least actually presuming to apportion out territory to Euro- 
pean nations according to a map made by the Americans. 

What authority was ever given by the people or Congress of the 
United States for these acts? What connection have these territorial 
quarrels with the plain duty of the United States to make peace with 

[405] 



CHINA'S INDICTMENT 

Germany following victory gained by the shedding of American blood 
for an American cause? 

It is impossible for patriotic Americans to view the proceedings 
at Paris, with their daily disclosure of embarrassments, complications 
and growing resentment, without heartily wishing that the policy of 
steering clear of foreign entanglements had been rigidly followed by 
the Executive in the conduct of the war and the peace adjustments. 
Nothing but resentment has been gained for Americans by the Fiume 
controversy, and nothing but resentment and deep distrust can be 
expected to flow from the Chinese controversy. The confidence in 
and friendship for America, which had been built up in China by 
many years of fair dealing and sympathetic diplomacy, now bid fair 
to disappear in a single day. The Chinese people now discover that 
they need not expect America to befriend them. The secret bargains 
of great powers are stronger, apparently, than any principles which 
declare for a league of nations which will respect the territorial in- 
tegrity of nations great and small. Great nations, apparently, are 
safe; but small or weak nations, those which cannot make war or 
break up leagues, must not expect to have their territory respected. 

Thus fade the bright and unsubstantial dreams of the equality 
of nations and mutual respect for the rights of all nations! The 
battle still goes to the strong and the race to the swift. The lion gets 
the lion's share, and the jackal thrives when he curries favor with 
the mighty. In the very name of liberty, for the very sake of pre- 
serving the world, a league is formed which has at its heart the 
seeds of death, because it denies truth, rewards the strong, robs the 
weak and blasphemes the spirit which it pretends to invoke. 

How can any nation subscribe to a league which "guarantees" 
the territorial integrity of nations, in the face of what the Parig 
conference has just done to China and purposes to do to Italy? 



[406 



Wednesday, May 7, 1919 

The Substitute for Nations 

THE one man in Europe who holds first place in the confidence 
of the American people so far as military matters are con- 
cerned is Marshal Foch. He earned this confidence by planning 
and executing the defeat of the enemy. No diplomatic or political 
argument can sway the American people into rejection of Marshal 
Foch's judgment in military matters. When he declares that the treaty 
of peace does not provide sufficient military protection for France 
his word goes farther in this country than that of any other man, 
foreign or American. 

Why is not France made safe in a military sense? What influence 
deters the peace conference from performing the supreme duty for 
which it was assembled? Who is responsible for the failure? 

The session of the peace conference yesterday was secret. It 
was held for the purpose of giving the minor nations their first infor- 
mation regarding their own destiny, as determined by the represent- 
atives of five great powers, who in turn have been dominated by one 
man. This man, strange to say, lacks the power to commit his gov- 
ernment to the hazardous experiment which he is endeavoring to 
materialize, and to which he has compelled European governments to 
subordinate or yield their just interests and rights. If the session 
yesterday had been public, the world this morning would resound with 
the indignant protests of nations which have discovered that their 
rights are sacrificed in the peace treaty for the sake of creating a 
questionable international organism intended to control all nations. 
Some of these protests have become known, in spite of the attempt 
to conceal them from the public, and it appears that France, as 
well as smaller nations, is deprived of the security and guarantees 
which are indispensable if war is to be avoided. 

It is proposed that a league of nations shall be formed, which 
shall treat Germany as an outcast, and then France is informed that 
the league will insure peace and protect her against the fury and 
greed of the outlaw! 

Among other protests that escaped complete suppression is that 
of China. The Chinese delegates filed a brief and dignified protest 
against the deliberate act of the peace conference in robbing China 

[407] 



THE SUBSTITUTE FOR NATIONS 

of her territory and economic liberties. Yet China is expected to 
become a member of the league which results from such transactions! 

A synopsis of the treaty is to be made public today, and that is 
all the information which the American people will be suffered to 
receive for the time being. This synopsis has been skillfully prepared, 
and will lay stress on the terms imposed upon Germany. Therefore 
it is quite possible that the American people will not fully appreciate, 
until later, how deep-seated is the resentment of the allied govern- 
ments against the policy which has wrung from them so many con- 
cessions to Germany, and how settled is the conviction in Europe that 
the peace now being made is really the provocation of another war. 

The allied nations, especially France, Great Britain and Italy, 
are convinced that concessions to the enemy are equivalent to diminu- 
tion of victory itself. They would make no concessions to the enemy 
for the sake of creating an experimental league of nations, except for 
the fact that they are compelled to do so or break with the present 
President of the United States,. Apparently these nations have 
adopted the plan of yielding to coercion as little as possible, always 
maintaining correct relations with Mr. Wilson, and biding their time 
until a change in the United States government will eliminate the 
obstacles which prevent all the allies and the United States from 
imposing an actual victorious peace upon the enemy. 

What a responsibility has been assumed by the man who stands 
between civilization and its safety! What audacity is displayed when 
a man borrows the authority of the United States, without express 
permission, and employs it in inducements and threats, to force upon 
the world an untried plan which he hopes will prevent war! Once 
started on that course, all sorts of known and unrevealed extrava- 
gances have been the consequence. Much that has seen the light is 
in sinister defiance of the spirit of the American government and con- 
tinuous American policy in this hemisphere and the other. 

That which is concealed must come to light. The American 
people wish to know all that has occurred. They have not given their 
consent to what has been done or promised, and before they reward 
their enemies, punish their friends and accept an individual's sub- 
stitute for the present system of independent nations, they will ask for 
a bill of particulars. 



[408 



Saturday, May 10, 1919 
Americans Rule the United States 
ALREADY, before there is any occasion for excitement, over- 
j£-\ zealous advocates of the league of nations "just as it stands" 
are clamoring for the ratification of the peace treaty immedi- 
ately upon its transmission to the Senate. Although these superheated 
persons and periodicals have not read the text of the treaty, they are 
more than willing to take it on faith, just as they took on faith the 
first text of the "covenant." Their memories are short, but perhaps 
they can stretch a point and recall their frantic insistence that the 
first draft of the covenant should be accepted just as it was written. 
Their tempers were upset by the opposition to the project to such an 
extent that the opponents were described as men who could not 
be trusted overnight. They were regarded as pro-German, at least, 
if not actual traitors. 

Well, the first text of the covenant proved to be frail and faulty 
after all. Would any of the feverish advocates of the present text 
be willing now to accept the first text? If not, why not? Don't they 
think that the revised text is better than that first perfect inspired 
creation? The truth is that the covenant declared to be sacrosanct 
was so defective that it collapsed at the first barrage of criticism. It 
was better so; for if a project for controlling nations cannot stand a 
few days' criticism it deserves quick death. 

There will be ample opportunity for examination of the treaty 
notwithstanding the desire of some partisans of the league to rush 
the project through before it can be dissected. In the first place, 
there will be delay in German acceptance of the treaty. The Ger- 
mans may not sign at all, but in any event they will carefully study 
the proposals and offer alternatives in some cases. The allied dele- 
gates will study the German counter proposals with close attention; 
for if the enemy is really anxious to make peace, he is apt to produce 
valuable information which may facilitate the process. The allies 
have prepared the terms on the information they have been able to 
gather, but they would not pretend that they had before them all the 
information in possession of the enemy. 

In the one question of relations between Germany and Russia 
the Germans can give to the allies extremely valuable cooperation 
in establishing secure peace if they desire to do so. They may have 

[409] 



AMERICANS RULE THE UNITED STATES 

this desire for reasons of their own. Surely the sagacious allied 
leaders will not reject an advantageous suggestion merely because it 
emanates from the enemy, if their tests disclose that the suggestion 
will promote genuine peace. 

While the discussions are going on, the Senate will be in session, 
and doubtless the text of the treaty as it now stands will be before it. 
The Senate can proceed with the discussion of treaty matters affecting 
the United States. 

Some of the frenzied advocates of the league increase popular 
distrust of their judgment when they insist that the Senate must ratify 
the treaty as a whole or reject it entirely. They think they have 
learned that if the Senate should amend the treaty, another world 
peace conference would have to be held to consider the Senate's 
amendments. Inasmuch as another conference is out of the question, 
the frenzied ones jump to the conclusion that the United States is 
compelled to accept or reject the treaty "just as it stands." 

That is not the case. There need be no difficulty whatever in 
defining the extent and character of American adherence to the treaty 
of peace. There are propositions in the treaty which will never be 
accepted by the United States, because no agency of the United States 
has the authority to accept them. The treaty-making power has 
no such authority. There are other provisions of the utmost value, 
both to the United States and its associates, and they will be accepted 
without any division. 

Democrats will be as anxious as Republicans to make the neces- 
sary reservations which will preserve inviolate the fundamental rule 
that the United States shall be governed solely by the American peo- 
ple. As that issue becomes clearer, through the maze of misinforma- 
tion and well-meant but misdirected efforts to abolish war, the ease 
with which the United States will mold the work of its representatives 
at Paris will be surprising to those who now assume that the nation 
can be committed to fatal policies in advance of passing its own judg- 
ment upon them. 



[410] 



Tuesday, May 20, 1919 
No Peace Through Intermeddling 

THE terms of the peace treaty, so far as revealed, are evidence 
of the impossibility of achieving real peace. Hatred fills the 
hearts of all Huns, and rooted aversion and distrust fill the 
hearts of all allied peoples. There is no room for the working of the 
Christian spirit, for the reason that the enemy is still vindictive, un- 
reconciled and intent upon evil. The civilized nations cannot take 
the Huns to their bosoms without inviting destruction. They must 
bind them fast with the steel of armed force and the thongs of ex- 
piation. The Christian cannot set aside truth for the sake of mercy 
or reconciliation. The serpent remains a serpent and the Hun remains 
a Hun. 

Therefore the treaty to be made at Paris will not be a peace 
treaty in the ordinary sense. It will be a definition of terms to be 
imposed rather than a statement of mutual agreements. If Ger- 
many signs, it will be with a vengeful and lying heart, with full 
intent to violate the terms whenever possible. If Germany does not 
sign at once, she will sign another paper later on, and the effect will 
be the same in the end — the imposition upon a beaten but irrecon- 
cilable people of a condition called peace as distinguished from mili- 
tary hostilities. This condition will be static hostility, not peace. It 
will resemble peace only by the absence of bloodshed. It will be as 
truly related to war as live coals are related to flames. 

The allies are relying upon a paper called the league of nations 
to preserve the world's peace, including peace with Germany. Ger- 
many is excluded from the league and is to be forced to declare her- 
self unfit to join the league. Thus the treaty provides that there 
shall be a spirit of war underlying the so-called peace. But instead 
of openly recognizing the impossibility of making real peace, the 
allies gloss over the situation with a lot of words which purport to 
create a world league of peace. 

The league of nations provided for in the treaty with Germany 
is not a world league, although it pretends to be. It does not insure 
peace with Germany, although it pretends to do so. It claims the 
right to interfere in any question that arises anywhere in the world 
which may threaten peace, but at the same time it dodges the most 
important question of all — that of Russia. It declares that any na- 

[411] 



NO PEACE THROUGH INTERMEDDLING 

tion which starts war will be attacked by all other nations, but its 
declaration is not backed by any force whatever. It asserts control 
over the entire world and then pretends to avoid interference with 
the Monroe doctrine and the Lansing-Ishii agreement; that is, it 
exempts the western hemisphere and Asia from its jurisdiction, or 
seems to do so. Possibly a war must be fought to determine exactly 
whether the league or the Lansing-Ishii agreement is paramount in 
Asia. Thus, in case China should make war on Japan, the United 
States would be compelled to betray either Japan or China and go 
to war for one against the other. 

The mind of the people in allied countries has been misled into 
believing that the league of nations will prevent war. As the truth 
forces itself to the front, as the American people see their boys held 
in Germany year after year and more of their boys sent to fight in 
regions of Europe and Asia that are perpetually at war, they will 
see what a terrible mistake was made when the representatives of 
the United States embroiled this country in European affairs under 
the mistaken ideal of forming a universal war-preventing alliance of 
nations. There can be no universal alliance, for the civilized nations 
will not ally themselves with the Huns and the bolsheviki. Any 
league short of a universal alliance is merely a line-up of one group 
of nations against another group in anticipation of war. 

The mischief of the proposed league of nations, aside from the 
bitter disillusionment it will bring to peace-loving men everywhere, is 
in the fact that it entangles the United States in Europe. The allied 
nations of Europe are fully justified in forming a permanent alliance. 
They must do so, in fact, whether they wish it or not. But the United 
States need not and should not join their alliance. The United States 
should declare its sympathy with such an alliance, formed for the 
purpose of shackling the Germans and maintaining free governments; 
but the United States merely makes the situation worse when it 
enters into European politics, takes sides in European squabbles, sets 
itself up as an arbiter of European boundary and commercial dis- 
putes, and invites disgust and hatred by becoming a busybody in 
other nations' affairs. 

The manner in which President Wilson alienated from himself 
the admiration and sympathy of the whole Italian people, in a single 
day, by a single act, serves as a reminder to Americans that they 
cannot expect to end wars in Europe by the simple process of inter- 
meddling. 



[412] 



Monday, June 2, 1919 

Lazarus at the Gate 

IF THERE is any country under the sun that needs the friendly aid 
of the United States, it is Mexico. It is proposed to make the 

United States the "mandatory" for Turkey, Armenia and other 
distant regions, while Mexico is in the throes of famine, revolution 
and economic prostration. Whether the brilliant idea of rainbow- 
chasing in Europe and shirking duty at home originated in the Amer- 
ican delegation or whether it is the fruit of European brains does 
not matter — it is enough to know that it is foreign to the American 
spirit and cannot be matched for folly. 

Mexico is at the back door of the United States. All the idealism 
proposed for Americans in Europe will be mere mockery if the 
United States continues to neglect the people of Mexico and thus 
earns the contempt of the world by posing as a Samaritan in far 
countries while neglecting the foulness at its doorstep. 

The people of Mexico are not natural revolutionists and do not 
desire the turmoil and rapine that have impoverished and debilitated 
them. The revolutions concocted by bandit chieftains, down to and 
including Carranza, were all at the expense of and against the will 
of the Mexican people. Foreigners have been wronged, but not nearly 
so much as Mexicans. The horror of Mexico's strife has fallen upon 
the poor, the starving millions who would work if they could. They 
are the victims of every devilish scheme that rapacity and cruelty 
can devise. Carranza even adopted methods suggested by his friends 
the Huns to complete the evisceration of the Mexican people. There 
is not a source of livelihood that he has not subjected to the strangu- 
lation of graft, backed by rifles in the hands of sharers in the plunder. 
The Carranza military organization is nothing but a gang of thieves 
who have long since cowed or killed every decent Mexican who dared 
to protest. The only persons in Mexico who have stood out against 
the Carranza bandits are other bandits who are anxious to get their 
hands upon the people's means of living. 

There is no hope for the Mexican people while they are the 
victims of villians of their own race. Help must come from some 
organized authority that is not organized robbery. There is no 
organization of power in Mexico that is not also an organization for 
pillage of the people. Outside authority must stand between the 
people and their exploiters long enough to enable the people to re- 

[413] 



LAZARUS AT THE GATE 

organize and select their own administration. The Russians are not 
more surely intimidated by the bolsheviki than the Mexicans are 
intimidated by the Mexican bolsheviki. 

Another revolution of formidable proportions is now beginning 
in Mexico for the purpose of putting Felipe Angeles in power. He is 
a man of good reputation and of exceptional ability. The military 
supporters of Angeles are led by Pancho Villa, the assassin whose raid 
at Columbus nearly induced the United States to do its duty in 
Mexico. Any government controlled by Villa himself would be merely 
a repetition of the Carranza reign of misrule, but Villa's fighting 
quality is such that he may do much good by aiding a really intelli- 
gent and patriotic Mexican to gain control. A change from Car- 
ranza to Angeles would be for the better — it could not be for the 
worse — but the experience of the last nine years is a warning against 
placing too much hope upon any revolutionary movement. Madero 
was a well-meaning man, but the sharks about him soon consumed 
the people's substance, and their crimes cost him his life. 

The United States cannot escape the performance of its duty 
to the Mexican people, because the American people will not permit 
their government to shirk its duty. Sooner or later the shame of 
permitting a neighboring people to die from pestilence, famine and 
official plundering will strike home to Americans with such force as 
to cause them to command their government to do its duty. 

The large proportion of uneducated persons and the un- 
fortunate laws and customs inherited from evil days of Spanish 
tyranny made the Mexican people easy prey for professional exploiters 
organizing as "liberator," "first chief of the constitutional army," 
and "citizen charged with the executive power." While the Amer- 
icans were lopping off dangerous conspirators in the early days, the 
Mexicans were falling victims to them. Each bad regime made them 
weaker, until now they are the prey of any neighborhood thief who 
can lead a dozen other thieves. The people in their ignorance and 
despair believe that the whole world is made up of starving victims 
and savage armed uniformed murderers. 

This is the situation within sight of the flag that rescued France. 
It is within sound of rifles and cannons sufficient to rescue Mexico 
within a month. It is a condition that indicts the American people 
and government for their callous disregard of the duty of humanity 
and charity. Yet the neighbor peoples die, and at Paris there is 
high-flown talk of the United States as the defender of the poor and 
helpless ! 

[414] 



Tuesday, June 3, 1919 

The Incubus at Paris 

AS MIGHT have been expected, the spokesmen of the Huns have 
±\^ seized upon the league of nations section of the peace treaty as 
a means of spreading confusion and dissension among the allies, 
and also for the purpose of exposing the weakness of the league it- 
self. It was an unlucky day when the Paris conference yielded to 
the pressure for incorporation of the fantastic league of nations in 
the stern terms to be imposed upon the world's enemy. The league 
is a dream; the treaty is a reality. The league deals with future 
conditions that may never materialize; the treaty deals with the 
appalling present condition of Europe. At a moment when Europe 
needed all the resolution, sanity and unity that it could command, 
the league project was thrust into the council of nations. From that 
moment there has been a steady growth of suspicion, distrust and 
secret bargaining. It has been with great difficulty that the victorious 
nations have been able to hold together. The attitude toward the 
United States government has changed from one of unreserved confi- 
dence to one of resentment and aversion. 

The German plenipotentiaries gain nothing by their counter pro- 
posals. They will get their answer Friday, and no doubt it will be a 
command to sign the treaty by a certain date or take the conse- 
quences. 

Notwithstanding the embarrassment caused by the covenant, the 
strong common sense of England, France and Italy will push through 
the terms that will bind Germany. The existence of the free nations 
depends upon the disarming of Germany and the exaction of repara- 
tion to the extent of her ability to pay during the next quarter of 
a century. Therefore, league or no league, Germany will not escape. 
Yet it is a pity that the Huns have been facilitated in their obstruc- 
tive tactics by having such a ready instrument of confusion as the 
proposed league of nations placed before them for consideration. 

The peace proceedings, in fact, are on a false basis in so far as 
they pretend to be an exchange of views between great adversaries 
now mutually desiring peace. The allies are determined to impose 
a certain set of conditions upon the prostrate enemy. They are right 
in fixing upon these terms and in imposing them with relentless 
thoroughness. They are wrong, however, when they go through the 
mockery of exchanging conversation with the enemy in order to 

[415] 



THE INCUBUS AT PARIS 

comply with ancient forms of treaty negotiation. The enemy, when 
the way is thus opened, has a right to presume that negotiations in 
good faith have been begun, and from that moment it is an absurdity 
for the allies suddenly to shut off discussion as soon as the enemy 
has outlined his views. If the peace terms are the fixed will of the 
allies, as they ought to be, they should be imposed forthwith, on a 
given date, whether Germany complains or not. If they are not the 
fixed will of the allies, they are certainly open to discussion and 
revision, in which case the enemy becomes an equal as a negotiator 
and may properly discuss any provision and make counter proposals. 

What price has been paid for the league of nations covenant? 
No one is permitted to know. The dealers in national rights do not 
tell what promises or guarantees they have made. The public knows 
that the allied nations have made the best bargain they could for 
the sake of fastening an effective peace upon Germany, and that they 
have failed thus far to accomplish the object for which the war was 
fought. Germany is still arrogant, still talking of a peace on equal 
terms, and with undeniable logic is demanding immediate membership 
in the league of nations. If the allies should make the blunder of 
exchanging views with the Germans the enemy will get the better 
of the argument, for peace is peace, not enmity, and any world league 
of peace must necessarily include Germany. 

The league cooked up in Paris is a poorly constructed alliance 
against Germany so long as it conspicuously excludes Germany as 
unfit to be a member. Germany is unfit to associate with free nations, 
and therefore there should be no pretense that the league is anything 
but an alliance against her. It is the persistent misrepresentation 
of the league that makes for trouble. It is pictured to be what it is 
not. It is credited with powers that it does not possess unless they 
are usurped, and it is described as a preventive of war when it is 
really an enemy of peace. 

The reassuring feature of the present situation is the firm determi- 
nation of the European leaders to bind Germany fast, in spite of the 
dangerous complications that have been caused by injecting the 
league of nations scheme into the proceedings. With Germany bound 
to comply with rigid peace terms, the world can brush aside the 
rubbish of the unworkable "covenant" and maintain human liberty 
by the open, voluntary association of free nations, each absolutely 
untrammeled in its own sovereign sphere. 



[416] 



Sunday, June 15, 1919 

Partnership With the Germans 

THROUGH the transparent device of "rewriting" the treaty of 
peace Germany is to save her face and accept the terms laid 
down by the allies. A few changes are made here and there, 
with solemn pretense that they are vitally important; but the most 
important change is the provision for easier and earlier admission of 
Germany into the league of nations. 

The German delegates and the German government can soon tell 
the German people that the first treaty proposed by the allies was 
indignantly rejected; that the abashed allies reconsidered their posi- 
tion and proposed to Germany fresh terms, which, although hard, 
are tolerable, and that Germany, soon to become a member of the 
league of nations, is really victorious in the battle of wits that has 
followed the battle of swords. Some of this forthcoming explanation 
is true, and perhaps the German leaders will succeed in persuading 
and deceiving the people into acceptance of the treaty without revolt. 
There is much in the treaty to commend it to the Huns, for it leave3 
loopholes for their nefarious energies in Russia. The league of na- 
tions also opens to the Hun intellect a most inviting field of operations. 
With Russia open to German exploitation and the league of nations 
open to German intrigue, the Huns can do much to thwart the allies 
in executing the peace terms, and possibly they may force a complete 
reconsideration of the terms later on. 

What the Germans may or may not do, however, is not so im- 
portant now as what the allies can and should do; for the Huns can 
be made powerless if the allies so desire, and if they are not made 
powerless, they may be depended upon to work treacherously in 
Russia, in the league of nations and everywhere else. There being 
no thought of friendship or confidence on either side, it goes without 
saying that the Germans intend to deal treacherously if they can. 

Why do the allied delegates facilitate Hun treachery by ad- 
mitting them into the league of nations? The answer is clear: If 
there is to be a league, Germany must be admitted, however bloody 
her hands and however black her soul. The founders of the league 
have striven in vain to escape the logic of the situation they have 
created. Their league cannot hang together long enough to be put 
before the parliaments unless it can be made to appear a world league 
and not a junta of nations preparing to fight a league led by Germany. 

[417] 



PARTNERSHIP WITH THE GERMANS 

So Germany soon joins the league — as soon as France, Belgium 
and the others can be tormented and intimidated into associating 
with their slayer. Then what? We are told that all is to be quietness 
and peace under the potent spell of the nine magicians of various 
colors who will direct the nations from Geneva. Why the world can- 
not be brought to quietness now by the five magicians at Paris is not 
explained; but presumably the magi at Geneva will possess more 
potent medicine. 

What a solution of the distracted world's problems! What a 
concoction of intrigue, hatred and war! And it is seriously proposed 
that the giant United States, the Prometheus of nations, shall abdicate 
its sovereign control of its own affairs and take orders from the Ger- 
man, Frenchman, Briton, Italian, Spaniard, Brazilian, Greek, Japan- 
ese and Belgian who will compose the secret executive committee in 
charge of the world! There will be a solitary American present, but in 
such matters as the Monroe doctrine, if he should vote against the 
majority, his vote would not count. 

Nothing would be more certain than a dispute between Germany 
and the United States over the Monroe doctrine in case both nations 
should join the league of nations now projected. Germany has always 
flouted the Monroe doctrine whenever she dared. In the league of 
nations Germany would challenge the doctrine; America would first 
insist that the doctrine is exempt from league jurisdiction, but would 
be defeated on this point by Article XV, which provides that "any 
dispute likely to lead to a rupture" must be submitted to the council. 
If Germany found that the council was against her, she could force 
the entire assembly of the league to consider the dispute. Then it 
would be an open field for bribery, intimidation, bargaining and per- 
fidy. Does any one claim that the United States could prevail over 
Germany in such a contest? Does any one insist that every nation 
of every color joining the league would be immune from the influences 
of fear, greed, jealousy, rivalry, hatred, etc.? 

Within the last few days the representatives of the allied nations, 
all honorable men, have agreed to the robbery of China by her own 
ally, Japan. The entire United States knows this to be true. Yet, 
while it is tacitly agreed that some peoples do not have the same con- 
ception of the word "honor" as Americans have, it is urged that the 
United States shall intrust its own interests, its rights, its independ- 
ence and its honor to the keeping of foreign peoples, including the 
Germans ! 



[418] 



Monday, June 23, 1919 

Germans Are Still Enemies 

THE arrangement about to be made with Germany is a war pact 
of enemies, not a peace between friends. The Germans are 
still enemies, and intend to act as enemies. 

The league of nations, if adopted, will not insure peace and 
friendship among nations, but will merely prevent each nation from 
promptly and adequately defending itself. 

The world is not as sympathetic and kindly as it was in No- 
vember, when the fighting was suspended. 

We take it that no one will dispute the first of the foregoing 
statements — that the Germans are still enemies. They call the allies 
and Americans "enemies," and deal with them as such. They per- 
form an act of treachery and war by sinking their surrendered fleet. 
They will sign the treaty with the intention of violating it or forcing 
the league of nations to amend or abrogate it. They are eagerly 
awaiting the opportunity to join the league of nations for the purpose 
of using the league to destroy the treaty. 

As to the second statement — that the league of nations, if 
adopted, will not insure peace and friendship among nations — we have 
merely to expose the nature of the league itself to prove the point 
to any student of government. "There is wonderfully little genuine 
inventiveness in the world," says Viscount Bryce in the "American 
Commonwealth," "and perhaps least of all has been shown in the 
sphere of political institutions. These men (the makers of the Con- 
stitution), practical politicians who knew how infinitely difficult a 
business government is, desired no bold experiments." It would be 
well for every American at this time to read Bryce's "American Com- 
monwealth." 

The projected league of nations is neither a sovereign nor a sub- 
ject. It assumes to control the action of nations, yet no machinery is 
provided as a substitute for the action of nations. It is supposed 
to administer international law, yet no provision is made for ascer- 
taining what international law is or should be. It is vaguely author- 
ized to draw all nations into war, yet no means are provided for con- 
ducting war, financing war, or defining what each nation shall con- 
tribute. It is feeble in maintaining peace, but powerful in provoking 
war. It interferes with weak nations but bows to strong combinations. 
It prevents any nation from defending itself, but does not itself fur- 

[419] 



GERMANS ARE STILL ENEMIES 

nish a prompt defense. A quick, savage thrust, like that of Germany 
upon Belgium, is beyond the defensive power and even beyond the 
imagination of the league. There is no provision whatever for meet- 
ing such an emergency. 

The covenant contains a pledge by which all the members 
mutually undertake to defend each member against external aggres- 
sion. This pledge, if in effect in 1776, would have prevented France 
from aiding George Washington to achieve American independence. 
If in effect in 1898, it would have prevented the United States from 
rescuing Cuba. If in effect in 1920, it will prevent the allies from 
compelling Germany to obey the peace terms in case the enemy, then 
a member of the league, resorts to treachery. 

As to the third statement — that the world is not as kindly and 
friendly as it was in 1918 — we leave to the reader's own judgment 
whether American interference in European affairs has made the 
allied nations more grateful and friendly toward the United States. 
We leave to the reader the question whether the allies are as strongly 
bound together as they were during the fighting. We leave to him 
the question whether Germany is any more friendly now than she was 
during the fighting. 

Yet there is nothing pessimistic, much less despairing, in this 
brief survey. The situation is what might have been expected, as 
a result of what has been done. There is nothing hopeless in the 
situation so far -as the United States government and American citi- 
zen are concerned. They have only to exercise patriotism and com- 
mon sense, such as they have always exercised in great crises. 

The mightiest force in the world is the United States. It is the 
only great power except Japan that is uninjured by the war. It 
towers far above Japan or any other empire. Its moral influence is 
more potent than war, its friendship is the sustenance of Europe, and 
its freedom from all entanglements enables it to exert more power at 
this juncture than all the other nations combined. If the world is 
to be restored, it will be by the aid of the United States. If the world 
goes down, it will be because the United States has blundered by leap- 
ing into the whirlpool instead of remaining on the bank and helping 
its drowning companions. 

Americans! Be Americans, and nothing else! Do not admit 
into the councils of America any foreigner or combination or league 
of foreigners, under any pretext whatever! America now has her 
greatest work to do, and none but Americans can do it. 

[420] 



Saturday, July 12, 1919 
Some Treaty Provisions 

WHEN the Senate begins consideration of the peace treaty it 
will speedily discover many provisions which are incompat- 
ible with Germany's membership in the league of nations. 
As the admission of Germany as a member of the league in the near 
future was promised by the Paris conference, perhaps as an induce- 
ment for early ratification of the treaty, there is a possibility that 
Germany may become a member before the Senate has completed its 
deliberations on the treaty. The membership of Germany is a fore- 
shadowed fact which the Senate will not ignore, because there will 
be plenty of Americans to remind it of the proposed association of 
this nation with Germany in a "league of honor." 

Germany would be admitted to the league as an equal of other 
nations, of course. Considering the material importance of Ger- 
many, notwithstanding her moral bankruptcy, it may be expected 
that she would demand a place on the council, along with the per- 
manent five and the transient four who will constitute the inner circle. 
If this demand should be granted, Germany would share with the 
principal allied nations in the control of the world's affairs. 

In that event the peace treaty would become subject to amend- 
ment in radical fashion. It is not possible to treat Germany as a 
world menace, to be stripped bare of weapons and placed under guard, 
and at the same time be admitted to partnership in a league regulat- 
ing the relations of all nations. 

The peace treaty regards Germany as a traitor to honor and 
peace, and upon that correct basis it denies to Germany the posses- 
sion of an army or navy. The small military force allowed to Ger- 
many is carefully specified, and means are provided to prevent 
treacherous increase of the Hun armies. That policy is not pursued 
against any other nation. How can it be continued against Germany 
when Germany is admitted to membership in the league? Those pro- 
visions are an indictment of German honor and an advertisement of 
German treachery. They will have to be canceled entirely when 
Germany is declared to be honorable again and worthy of member- 
ship in the league. 

The treaty denies to Germany any military or naval air forces 
whatever, and requires the dismantling of German aerodromes, the 
demobilization of the aviation personnel, the abandonment of all man- 

[421] 



SOME TREATY PROVISIONS 

ufacture of airplanes or air engines, and requires the delivery to the 
allies of all aviation equipment except a few machines to be used for 
locating submarine mines. No dirigible is allowed to Germany. Now, 
when Germany joins the league as an equal of Great Britain, will not 
the Huns demand the right to build dirigibles which can compete with 
the R-34 in honorable flights across the Atlantic? Who will be able 
to peer into the German soul and discover whether there is intent to 
build commercial machines with a view to turning them into war 
machines without warning? 

The treaty cuts down the German navy to a contemptible de- 
gree, and thus lifts a terrible menace from the world. Article 191 
is short and sweet: "The construction or acquisition of any sub- 
marine, even for commercial purposes, shall be forbidden in Ger- 
many." But the allies are not denied submarines, even for war pur- 
poses. Surely, when Germany is admitted into the league she will 
call attention to what will then be gross discrimination against an 
equal member of the league, and will then demand the cancellation 
of that portion of the treaty. How can the German demand be denied? 
It will be granted, as based upon justice, and thereupon Germany, 
officially found to be honorable, will be free to build submarines for 
war and peace purposes. 

The treaty prohibits Germany from drafting men into the army, 
prohibits all mobilization measures, cuts down the number of mili- 
tary schools, and provides that no Germans shall be enrolled or be- 
come instructors in the military or naval or air forces of any other 
country. These provisions and all other curtailments of German 
military, naval and air forces are predicated upon the statement that 
they are made "in order to render possible the initiation of a general 
limitation of the armaments of all nations." Therefore, when Ger- 
many joins the league, the same provisions must be applied to all 
members of the league or else Germany must be relieved of them. 

If Germany should be admitted to the league soon, the arraign- 
ment and trial of William Hohenzollern would be an anomaly. Equal- 
ity in the league would forbid the casting of obloquy upon the ruler 
or former ruler of any nation belonging to the league. The Germans 
are very touchy upon the question of trying their former emperor 
for "a supreme offense against international morality and the sanctity 
of treaties." These be hard words, which no member of the league 
should use against another member. Germany would insist upon their 
cancellation. 



[422] 



Saturday, July 19, 1919 
A Spokesman for Defeatism 

WE HAVE been expecting some one prominent on the allied side 
to take the lead in advocating a policy of "conciliation" 
toward the Germans which, if adopted, would destroy the 
peace treaty, defeat the work of the allies on the battlefield and pave 
the way for another war against the same people who have just failed 
to destroy free government. This spokesman for disintegration and 
defeatism has now appeared. He is Gen. Jan Christian Smuts, who 
acquired a prominent position in Great Britain through his well- 
advertised loyalty to the British crown after trying to destroy it in 
the Boer war. Gen. Smuts was a delegate to the Paris conference 
from South Africa, and he signed the treaty under protest because he 
thought it was too severe upon Germany. His protest stands as a 
masterpiece of pro-German propaganda disguised as an appeal to 
idealism. 

Now Gen. Smuts issues a "farewell" address — we hope it really 
is a farewell — in which he acts again as an intercessor for Germany. 
He asks for special consideration for the present German government, 
which he guarantees as perfectly honest and working in behalf of the 
allies by keeping down anarchy. Above all things Gen. Smuts is 
anxious to see Germany a member of the league of nations, although 
he knows that Germany has served notice through Count von 
Bernstorff and others that her first act if admitted to the league will 
be a demand for revision of the peace treaty. 

Gen. Smuts draws a fearful picture of England, a small island 
confronted by a great nation of 70,000,000 Germans. It is calculated 
to frighten Englishmen, but it will not succeed. When have English- 
men been won over by appealing to fear and cowardice? They faced 
the Germans and gave them their bellyful of British steel. Does Gen. 
Smuts fear that the allies cannot or will not rally again and put down 
the Huns if they should run amuck? Does he think the breed of 
brave men has been killed off in England, France, Italy, Russia or 
America? If so, his sojourn outside of South Africa has not taught 
him much, and he may as well return to the veldt. 

All of this special pleader's concern is for the Germans. He says 
nothing of the hardships of the French, beside which the German 
hardships are holidays. Germany is not devastated, nor are her 

[423] 



A SPOKESMAN FOR DEFEATISM 

factories looted of machinery. He says not a word of Italy, which is 
living on insufficient rations without a possibility of recovering in- 
demnity for the ravages by the Germans and their helpers. As for 
Russia, "Gen. Smuts strongly urges leaving Russia to settle her own 
affairs on the ground that 'a sobered soviet system may be better 
than barbarism, to which the present policy seems inevitably to be 
tending.' He declares that Russia can only be saved internally by the 
Russians themselves working on Russian methods and ideas. He 
urges the allies to leave Russia alone, remove the blockade and adopt 
a policy of friendly neutrality and impartiality to all factions." 

In short, treat the murderers and their victims just alike. Rely 
upon wise bolsheviki. Help Germany, but don't help Russia. Soften 
the peace treaty so that Germany may recover, but never mind 
France, Belgium, Italy and the other allied sufferers. Let down the 
blockade so that the bolsheviki may import ammunition as freely as 
patriotic Russians. Treat all Russian factions alike because the 
bolsheviki are strong and should not be antagonized. Support Ebert 
of Germany, but don't befriend Kolchak of Russia, for fear of Lenine 
and Trotzky. Curry favor with your strong enemies, desert your 
friends, ignore your allies and put your trust in the possibility of the 
bolsheviki becoming "sobered." 

Is that your best for the cause of the allies and of humanity and 
civilization, Gen. Smuts? Is that the ripe fruit of your statesmanship, 
your loyalty to democracy, your abandonment of all ties that are 
incompatible with loyalty to the allied side in this war? 

It is well that Gen. Smuts' alleged influence in Paris was exag- 
gerated, in view of what he now advocates. It is well that he is not 
in a position to speak officially or to commit the British empire or 
South Africa to the policies he outlines. The great allied powers have 
pledged themselves to keep Germany chained to the treadmill of 
expiation. They have pledged themselves to keep Germany disarmed. 
They have promised reparation to allied peoples. They have given 
their solemn pledge to aid the Russian people who are trying to 
throw off the bolsheviki. Everything that the allied powers have 
won in war or pledged in peace is attacked by this South African 
Boer who advertises his loyalty to the cause of the allies against 
Germany. 



[424 



Friday, July 25, 1919 
United Germany, Disunited Russia 

CERTAIN great political movements in Europe seem to be under 
German rather than allied control. Germany, at any rate, suc- 
ceeds in pushing forward such movements as are advantageous 
to her, and the allies are either ignorant, indifferent or powerless in 
the matter. 

We have referred several times to the integration of Germany 
into a single machine, first accomplished by Bismarck, nearly wrecked 
by William Hohenzollern II, and now undergoing repairs by the 
German people with the consent of the allies. It is one of the most 
astonishing and inexplicable facts of all time, this failure by the 
victorious free nations to prevent the reconstruction of the German 
empire. The failure to prevent the German states from unifying into 
an empire is a failure to prevent Germany from making another 
world war whenever she is physically prepared. The political machine 
which gives birth to all the war machinery is allowed to exist and 
recuperate. 

Just as Bismarck labored to bring all Germany into one compact 
war machine, so he labored to break Russia into fragments and thus 
prevent her from being or becoming formidable in war. He intrigued 
incessantly and with marked success in many directions, keeping 
Russia in hot water and stirring up the revolutionary and separatist 
spirit whenever and wherever he could. He broke up incipient alli- 
ances between France and Russia, poisoned the Anglo-Russian rela- 
tions, thwarted Russia's hopes of obtaining adequate sea outlets and 
promoted graft and corruption in the Russian military and naval 
services. Bismarck established a spy system in Russia which was 
almost as far-reaching as the Czar's secret police system. The Ger- 
man absorption of Russian finances gave promise of becoming abso- 
lute. 

The late emperor succeeded in spoiling much of Bismarck's work, 
but not all. There were 5,000,000 Germans in Russia in 1914, with a 
strong grip on Russia's industrial life. The Franco-Russian alliance 
had been made, and King Edward's diplomacy circumvented Germany 
in Russia as well as elsewhere, so that when Germany started the war 
five years ago this month, she was already beaten on the diplomatic 
field. 

[425] 



UNITED GERMANY, DISUNITED RUSSIA 

Now, with Hohenzollern out of the way, more intelligent Huns 
are again at work along Bismarck's old lines. They are integrating 
Germany as rapidly as possible — think of the unblushing title, "Presi- 
dent of the German empire!" — and are just as energetically disinte- 
grating Russia. They are behind the bolsheviki, giving them all pos- 
sible aid and comfort while the allies hesitate and fail to aid Kolchak. 
German officers are feverishly drilling bolshevik recruits and German 
arms are placed in their hands. German agents provocateurs are 
pushing forward the separatist movements in Ukraine, Esthonia, 
Lithuania, Caucasus, Finland and other parts of Russia. 

And the allies are helping the Germans. Apparently without the 
slightest inquiry into the genuineness of these "revolutionary" move- 
ments the allies have recognized or are disposed to recognize the inde- 
pendence of the regions named, thus facilitating the German plan of 
unity for Germany and disunity for Germany's victims. 

The alleged "republic" of Ukrainia is as purely a piece of German 
strategy as Ludendorff' s campaign against Paris. Can it be that the 
allied governments have forgotten so soon the organization of Ukrainia 
by the Germans, the pompous reception of the Ukrainian leaders by 
Emperor William, his usual blasphemous imprecations against their 
enemies and his promise to cooperate with the Almighty in preserving 
their "independence?" It was a republic made in Germany for German 
purposes. It is now overrun by the bolsheviki, under German direc- 
tion, for German purposes. 

The uprisings in Esthonia, Lithuania and other Baltic regions 
were conceived and executed by Germans for the purpose of splitting 
Russia into fragments and then absorbing the fragments at leisure. 

How can the world expect to see peace in Europe when the allied 
governments actually cooperate with Germany in preparing conditions 
for another war in which Germany will be more advantageously placed 
than in 1914? The great preventive of all this, they say, is the league 
of nations. How? With Germany a member, or with Germany 
excluded? If Germany should be a member, how long would she 
hesitate between good faith and a good chance to strike down France? 
If not a member, how could the league prevent her preparation for 
war when the allied governments, flushed with victory and with all 
power, not limited by the red tape of a league, are afraid or unable 
to put a stop to her machinations? 



[426] 



Sunday, July 27, 1919 
Thinking It Over 

ONE of the fortunate circumstances attending the consideration 
of the league of nations proposal is the fact that the people are 
not required to decide in haste. They are free to apply their 
minds to the project in all its phases, to weigh the past and the pres- 
ent, and to make their decision without regard to the decision reached 
by any other nation. 

Nothing is more futile than the attempt by overzealous advocates 
of the league to foreclose consideration of the matter by urging that 
other nations will be displeased or injured by delay, or may take it 
into their heads to offer reservations of their own if the United States 
should be so bold as to define the extent to which it is willing to com- 
mit itself. President Wilson is not aided in his campaign by these 
headlong plungers, and it is safe to say that he would prefer their 
silence to their speech. 

Mr. Wilson is not asking the American people to snap their 
minds shut before they can understand the questions at issue. On 
the contrary, he is preparing to go before them and explain many 
things that are not now clear, in order that they may understand fully 
the reasons why he is in favor of cutting away from the traditions of 
the United States and embarking upon what he calls "an uncharted 
sea." His reasons must be of the most moving and conclusive charac- 
ter, for no one is better qualified to understand the depth and solidity 
of American traditional policies and the necessity up to this hour for 
maintaining American independence. 

American membership in the league of nations is an American 
question, to be settled exclusively by Americans. The other nations 
can do as they please. Surely the United States can exercise the same 
freedom. 

Many points in the covenant of the league of nations require 
elucidation. Just as the Constitution was scrutinized and its possible 
operations carefully considered, the constitution of the world league 
must be scrutinized. One matter barely touched upon comes to mind 
when the history of the Constitution is recalled. It is the question of 
construction. Shrewd as were the Americans of the old day, and 
wonderfully informed as they were in the business of government, 
they did not foresee the evolution by which the national government 
coming into being would be the judge of its own powers. This power 

[427] 



THINKING IT OVER 

to construe is the power to create and the equally sweeping power 
to destroy the creations of others. 

Applied to the league of nations, the power to construe the cove- 
nant means that no nation may successfully set up a denial of the 
league's judgment of its own powers. The United States might object 
to the league's understanding of the Monroe doctrine, but the objec- 
tion would be futile unless backed by something more forcible than a 
vote of protest. The Monroe doctrine would be what the league of 
nations construed it to be, not what the United States declared it to be. 

The accretion of power through the construing of the covenant 
would probably be extremely rapid, on account of the temporary 
urgency of one dispute after another, which would call for exercise 
of increased authority. The apparent gap between the league's power 
to decide and its power to enforce would be closed within a few 
months, in all probability. No nation within the league could stay 
its hand, and surely no nation outside could stop its growth. 

The thought that the league will grow in power until it finally 
exercises absolute control over the relations of nations is at the bottom 
of nearly every argument in favor of the league. It is likened to a 
puling infant which gives promise of a glorious maturity. Gen. Smuts, 
in outlining the steps that should be taken in creating the league, 
was careful to suggest that the framework should be loose and fragile 
at the beginning, so that the natural reluctance of nations against 
yielding their independence would not be aroused into refusal to join. 
He was willing to trust to time, the process of accretion of power and 
the exclusive power of the league to fix its own limitations. 

This one feature of the league deserves the careful study of 
Americans. Everything done must be done in good faith. If the 
United States joins the league it must be in a wholehearted spirit, 
with a desire to make the league successful in preventing wars. It is 
this element of good faith which shames those citizens who urge imme- 
diate and unthinking acceptance of the league on the ground that the 
United States could always cast it off if it should prove undesirable. 
There is danger also in the plausible suggestion that the league can be 
amended later if it should not be harmonious with American ideas. 
By that time the United States would not be exclusive master of its 
own relationships. It would have to consult other powers concerning 
its own action. 

The only time in which the United States will ever be wholly 
free to decide for itself what is best to be done is the period before it 
joins the league of nations. 

[428] 



Tuesday, July 29, 1919 
The Case of Shantung 

ADMIRERS of Mr. Taft cannot but regret that he has persuaded 
J~± himself to support the indefensible provisions of the peace treaty 
which take a portion of China and give it to Japan. The 
attempted robbery of Shantung has been covered with explanations 
that fail to explain and excuses that do not excuse, and still through 
all the drapery of attempted disguise the act stands out in nakedness 
as a deliberate betrayal of one ally by another, who by hook and 
crook has obtained the assent of his associates in the deed. 

Germany robbed China of the territory now forcibly held by 
Japan. There is no mystery about the case, and no amount of discus- 
sion concerning treaty engagements can obscure the fact that Germany 
did not acquire the territory by fair dealing or with the consent of the 
Chinese government or people. Germany did as Japan is doing now; 
she held a pistol at China's head and extorted from China what she 
desired. How idle it is to expect the civilized world to be deceived 
regarding Hun aggressions at Kiaochow! No one is deceived except 
those who think the world can be induced to believe that Germany 
acted honorably toward China, and that Japan is now acting honor- 
ably in acquiring German rights in China. 

There are no German rights in China, and never were. If the 
free nations had been active and vigilant in defense of human rights, 
Germany could not have acted the footpad in China. If the league 
of nations had been in successful operation at the time, can it be 
imagined that it would have confirmed the robbery of Chinese terri- 
tory? To believe so is to believe that the league is actually intended 
to further the intrigues of predatory powers against weak neighbors. 
The excuse for winking at the Shantung outrage is that it was neces- 
sary to do so if the league of nations was to come into existence, but 
no one has yet suggested that the league is to facilitate such outrages. 
Indeed, it is strongly intimated that the league, once established, 
will turn against the Japanese and compel them to restore the stolen 
property, notwithstanding Japan's expectation that the league will 
confirm what the governments creating it have seen fit to tolerate. 

When Japan began war against Germany the announcement was 
made that Kiaochow would be turned back to China, but there was a 
"joker" attached to the statement, and Japan is now apparently 
regretful that she committed herself to any extent. In view of the 

[429] 



THE CASE OF SHANTUNG 

worldwide knowledge of Japanese actions in Korea, Manchuria and 
Shantung, is it wise to keep up the pretense that diplomatic evasions 
must be taken as plain truth and the plain truth itself subbornly 
ignored? Who is so ignorant or so credulous as to believe that Japan 
is playing fairly with China? Mr. Taft is not, for he states that 
"she is a nation whose disposition to encroach upon China needs 
restraint." Then why not restrain her? Or, if the powers in plenary 
session at Paris did not have the courage to restrain Japan, they 
could at least have refused to become parties to an outrage upon 
the sovereignty and territorial integrity of one of their own allies. 
How did they have the "nerve" to adopt Article X of the covenant, 
solemnly pledging themselves to guarantee one another's territorial 
and political integrity against external aggression, while actually 
violating this pledge in another portion of the treaty? Were the 
delegates at Paris confident that the world would not detect this 
treachery to the declared purpose of the league, or did they presume 
that the world's moral sense was so blunted that it could not tell the 
difference between right and wrong? 

The Shantung provisions of the peace treaty are intolerable. 
The United States cannot honorably set its seal upon the act contem- 
plated. To do so would be to betray its purpose in going to war and 
in making peace. Its intention to defend weak republics from the 
brutal aggression of autocracy would be a patent lie, advertised to 
the whole world over the signature of the President and the Senate. 
That cannot be. The Senate must correct this mistake before it has 
become the solemn act of the United States. 



430 



Thursday, August 7, 1919 
The Attack on Americanism 

THE Americans of the United States are now entering upon a 
finish fight with the destructive forces that have wrecked 
several European nations and are now bent upon destroying 
the United States government. 

Political and economic ideas in deadly enmity to the freedom 
and equality of American citizens have been thrust into this country 
and are now boldly attempting to tear down the structure built up 
by the American people. The unrest and hysteria of Europe have 
given birth to monstrous proposals. There is proposed a substitute 
for the square deal which gives all workers in America an equal 
standing before the law. There is proposed a plan whereby many 
workers shall be taxed for the benefit of a few. It is proposed that 
the United States shall no longer treat its workingmen alike, nor be 
free and independent in foreign affairs. It is proposed that a certain 
class of workers shall take extra profits out of the United States 
Treasury, and that all other workers shall stand all losses, if the 
railroads should not be profitable. It is demanded that the United 
States shall not decide for itself whether it shall maintain peace or go 
to war, but shall take instructions from a foreign organization. 

The free will of the United States, acting in response to the 
independent vote of its citizens, is to be made subordinate to an inter- 
nationalism having its headquarters abroad and controlling the policy 
of this nation. 

Those are the propositions. They are ideals, theories, experi- 
ments and dreams. Yet they are pressed upon the people with the 
claim that the liberties of the United States are a fraud; that for- 
eigners know better than Americans how to run this country; that 
capital and labor are not partners, as President Wilson described 
them last May, but enemies, and that capital must be driven from 
ownership of the railroads; that an economic revolution must be 
forced through which will cast aside the present industrial system of 
cooperation between capital and labor whereby capital gets its profit 
and labor gets its wage. 

The railroad workers, tormented by the high cost of living, have 
made the mistake of espousing these economic heresies, which if 
adopted would do these very workers infinite harm. They have the 
sympathy of all other Americans in their struggle with living condi- 

[431] 



THE ATTACK ON AMERICANISM 

tions. Nothing is to be gained by any attempt by any section of the 
people to obtain advantage over another. The living conditions bear 
on all alike and the remedy must apply to all. 

Infinite harm comes from hasty and ill-considered adoption of 
nostrums and counterfeits to take the place of tested political and 
economical principles. How can mankind live without work? The 
question answers itself, and yet the Russian bolsheviki in their abys- 
mal ignorance are actually trying to put into effect a system which 
will exempt the workers from work! How can America be strong 
and free if it fetters itself to a foreign council in vital matters? That 
question ought to answer itself, and yet an attempt is now being made 
to compromise the independence of the United States because some- 
body has said that the scheme will stop wars ! How can every person 
in this country get a square deal if his dollar is not to be permitted 
to earn an honest return for its owner, or if one set of workers is to 
profit at the expense of another set? That question ought to answer 
itself. 

The United States government has been sorely tried in times 
past by enthusiasts and dreamers who thought they had found im- 
provements upon truth and substitutes for common sense. But the 
United States still stands, a mighty rock unshaken by the storms of 
the world. It stands because it is founded upon justice and liberty. 
It secures to every man the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of 
happiness. It cannot give one man strength or another man wisdom 
or a third man riches, but it can and does give each man a square 
deal so long as he gives it a square deal. In this country men are 
free; not free to murder the rich, as in Russia, but free to get rich 
and enjoy their riches after they have made them. The government 
cannot guarantee any man success in his pursuit of happiness, but it 
can and does guarantee that he shall be as free to pursue happiness 
as any other man. The restrictions thrown around one man here 
are thrown around every other man. 

The United States will stand, and stand free, whether foreign 
nations flourish or fall. The American spirit will not surrender to 
the mistaken and dangerous demands for changes which would destroy 
the independence of the government or the equality of citizens. Amer- 
icans are quick to detect political fallacies and economic blunders. 
They know how to govern themselves and guard their own liberties. 
They must and will face this situation that has arisen. They must and 
will annihilate the movements that would destroy America and Ameri- 
canism. 

[432] 



Sunday, August 10, 1919 

The Cause and the Remedy 

THERE is no denying the fact that Europe and America are 
linked together in the grim business of recovering equilibrium 
after the shock of war. No well-informed American attempts 
to argue that the United States can or should confine its recuperative 
measures solely to this country. It is conceded by everybody that 
the human disturbance is world-wide and that the remedy for high 
cost of living and other ills should be world-wide in application. 
Each country can do much within its own boundaries, but no country 
lives to itself alone. 

The depreciation of money is the taproot of the economic dis- 
turbance, and this taproot has been grown in the tropical soil of debt 
and watered with extravagance. It is now cultivated by millions of 
hands that should be at work producing food and other necessaries. 
The nations have burned up billions of real wealth and substituted 
for it paper money. Then they have squandered this paper money on 
all kinds of unnecessary enterprises. They have taught their man- 
hood to quit work and live in great camps and fleets, without thought 
of providing their own food and with the spice of deadly adventure 
to overstimulate their minds. The nations began living on their 
accumulated wealth, then on their visible assets, and then on their 
intangible credit, and now they are oscillating between bankruptcy 
and another draft upon the United States. Not one of the nations 
lately at war, except Japan, is producing normally, although all of 
them, including Japan, are in dire need of food, fuel and clothing. 

The American dollar has not escaped the universal depreciation. 
How could it, when the United States has spent $30,000,000,000 in a 
war spree, of which $10,000,000,000 represents money lent to fellow 
nations on the same spree? They are all honorable nations, and every 
one of them intends to pay its loans, to the last pound, franc, lira, 
ruble, peso, drachma, leu, or dinar, as the case may be. But these 
pounds, francs, &c, are worth very little just now in American dol- 
lars, notwithstanding the dollar may be depressed and diluted. 

Worse than this, however, is the iron demand for food and fuel 
and clothing, which nature imposes upon the European nations. The 
debts, even if wiped out, would not affect the present situation. The 
United States has a surplus of life's necessities and must consider the 
best method of sharing them with stricken Europe. Americans know 

[433] 



THE CAUSE AND THE REMEDY 

that Belgians in American uniforms and fed with American food were 
strutting about idly in Brussels while American soldiers were at work 
repairing Belgian roads; they know that reconstruction in northern 
France is held back for various reasons; they know that British labor 
has nearly lost all common sense and that Russia is a maniac. 
Nevertheless, Americans know that Europe's millions are still sane, 
still industrious and still devoted to peace and liberty. Therefore 
Americans will stand by them and will supply them the necessaries 
of life, in some way or other, while all nations are working out a plan 
of financial recovery. 

The best constructive ability of the giants of American finance 
and industry is now called for. It is not a political or diplomatic 
remedy that is needed. The illness is economic and not political. 
This statement is proved by the fact that victor and vanquished are 
all affected alike. The victorious French franc is in the same boat 
with the vanquished German mark. Get them through safely and 
Europe is saved. Save the franc and you help the mark incidentally, 
no matter how ardently and justly you hate the Hun. 

If any combination of American constructive genius can now be 
formed, let it be done with speed. Let the country's most resourceful 
and most responsible legislators, financiers and industrial and agri- 
cultural leaders get together in devising and executing a plan for 
putting credit behind every unit of money in the allied nations, and 
for tapping the dropsical American dollar. The cost of living is high 
when counted in abnormally cheap dollars. It will not seem so high 
when there is greater buying power in the dollar and less selling 
power in food. 

President Wilson spoke a volume when he suggested that the 
United States should produce as much and as fast as possible. The 
world needs every bushel of wheat and every pig it can produce. 
Hence any able-bodied man or woman in this country not actually 
temporarily upset by shell shock is a clog on the world unless he or 
she is busy at productive work. Never mind the kind of work, so 
long as it is useful and contributory to the world's recovery. Don't 
stop work to criticize the Belgian or Frenchman who is temporarily 
off his head and idle. He will get busy, and is getting busy splendidly, 
all things considered. Don't stop work to worry over the stupendous 
task of planning and building a suspension bridge of credit across 
the Atlantic which will sustain the weight of the world. No single 
brain will accomplish that task, but all hands by keeping busy will 
contribute to its accomplishment. 

[434] 



Monday, August 11, 1919 
"Industrial Democracy" 

A GREAT deal of humbug is spoken and written at this junction 
by men who are trying to find a cure for the high cost of living. 
The greatest humbug of all is the statement that the present 
industrial system is an autocracy or an oligarchy which must be 
superseded by "industrial democracy." This latter term conceals the 
real aim, which is class autocracy. The most advanced example of 
what is aimed at is the proposal of the railroad workers to exclude 
private ownership of railroads and then grant both high wages and 
profits to the rail worker class, as against all other persons. 

The most stupid of all wars is a war between capital and labor, 
for it takes no account of the nature of either. Capital is labor, and 
labor is capital, and neither can exist long without the other. The 
accumulated labor represented by capital takes various forms and is 
sometimes so thoroughly disguised that labor cannot recognize its 
kinship to it; but this is through lack of information and analysis. 
Subject any form of capital to chemical analysis and it can be 
resolved into so many parts of labor, whether its form be lands, dol- 
lars, ships, mines, factories, stocks or bonds. Even natural resources 
are capital only after labor has been added. Many persons make 
the mistake of counting a natural resource as capital independent of 
and not calculable in labor. Ask them the value of land in the middle 
of Sahara, or the cash returns on a coal mine that is never mined. 

Before the days of joint stock companies, labor was individual 
in all its aspects. It originated, executed and marketed its product 
individually, and kept all the profits. It gloried in the quality of its 
workmanship, and prospered according to the high quality thereof. 
Immortal genius sprang from the midst of crowds of workmen, and 
there was full opportunity for the development of master architects, 
sculptors, painters, carvers, engravers, weavers, printers and so on. 
All workmanship had the stamp of individuality. Thoroughness was 
instinctive. The guilds of workmen encouraged excellence and pro- 
moted individuality, and as a rule did not make the mistake of cut- 
ting down production for the sake of forcing up wages. 

It is impossible to go back to the day of individualism in labor, 
but it is possible to increase the interest of labor in its product. Just 
as the poorest citizen is an integral part of the nation and has his 
share in molding the policy of the government, so every workman 

[435] 



"INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY" 

should be an integral part of the enterprise in which he is engaged. 
Accumulated labor, called capital, makes a mistake when it does not 
make day labor, or capital in the making, a co-sharer in its enterprise. 
Whatever the enterprise, it is a manifestation of labor, usually in the 
two forms of "capital" and "day labor." These two in logic have 
identical interests and identical rights according to their contribution. 
They should have these interests and rights in practice. 

One of the strong and prosperous corporations of the United 
States advertises that 90 per cent of its employees are stockholders. 
What about the other 10 per cent? They are a source of weakness. 
We believe the day is near when every joint stock enterprise will 
make each workman a stockholder at the time he joins the company's 
force, and increase his holdings as he lengthens his labor. 

Skill will be necessary to work out the details of stock ownership 
whereby all interests will be equally treated according to their past 
and current contribution. But Americans have skill and will find 
the true proportions. The objection that workingmen are too migra- 
tory to be suitable stockholders in a settled enterprise is not a valid 
objection, for stock transfers can be quicker than any workman's 
movements. The ownership of stock would be the most powerful 
influence imaginable in arousing the company loyalty of a workman 
and inducing him to stay in one place and accumulate "capital" — 
that is, hoarded labor. 

Strikes, bolshevism, foolish talk, violent threats and mutual impu- 
tations of dishonesty and heartlessness are not the roads toward 
"industrial democracy." They lead to poverty. It is high time that 
capital and labor should apply patient intelligence to the problem that 
affects them alike. 



[436] 



Tuesday, August 12, 1919 

The Allies and Russia 

THE allied governments, after repeated promises to extend aid 
to loyal Russians and repeated failures to keep these promises, 
now admit the virtual collapse of Admiral Kolchak. He did 
not have guns, ammunition or food supplies sufficient to hold Omsk, 
and has fallen back 200 miles. The bolsheviki are jubilantly cele- 
brating what they claim to be an overwhelming victory and are pre- 
paring to attack Gen. Denikine in great force. 

The allied governments are trying to break the news gently to 
the peoples. As much blame as possible is thrown upon Admiral 
Kolchak, and every effort is made to conceal the failure of the allies 
to assist Kolchak. 

So the elements of destiny are at work to involve the United 
States and all nations in another war. The mystery of it is insoluble. 
Deep and malignant forces are at work — there is no other explanation 
of the paralysis of the United States, France, England, Italy and 
Japan at the moment when every fact, every circumstance and every 
advantage should spur them to activity on a gigantic scale in aid of 
the loyal Russians. The leaders of the allied nations know very well 
that failure to assist the Russians to recover their country means 
German control of Russia and another tremendous war. It is not 
ignorance that robs the allies of their power and exhibits them as 
vacillating nations, afraid of the bolsheviki and treacherous to the 
anti-bolsheviki. There is some other influence at work, more powerful 
than the instinct that cries out in behalf of the deserted Russians. 

The truth must be faced. Germany is escaping from defeat and 
working toward a position of advantage. The bolsheviki are doing 
the devil's work with Germany's expert help and without allied 
hindrance. The allies, by holding out false hopes to Kolchak and 
other Russian leaders, and by overtures which plainly proved their 
fear of Lenine, have actually assisted the bolsheviki rather than the 
loyal Russians. In helping the bolsheviki they have helped Germany, 
and to that extent they have nullified the Paris treaty and opened the 
door of war. 

Germany has made rapid strides in the field in which she is so 
conspicuously superior to the allies — the field of intrigue and propa- 
ganda. The allies have botched every move they have made in Russia, 

[437] 



THE ALLIES AND RUSSIA 

without exception, while the Germans have extricated themselves with 
marvelous skill from the seemingly fatal trap which Marshal Foch 
sprung upon them. From the hour Marshal Foch was superseded by 
diplomatic authority the allies have blundered and squandered away 
their victory, but more notably in Russia than elsewhere. They took 
the heart out of all loyal Russians by their Prinkipo proposal, their 
backing and filling in Siberia and Archangel and their violation of 
their signed pledge, made only a few weeks ago. It is an astounding 
exhibition of timidity, confusion and failure. 

Fifty-six years ago the United States was in the throes of civil 
war, and Abraham Lincoln saw the nations of Europe preparing to 
take the step that probably would have destroyed the Union. He 
sought the friendship of Russia, and found it. If Russia had acted in 
concert with France and England, as was proposed by France, the 
American Union would have been compelled to fight Europe as well 
as the Southern States. Lincoln gave notice that he would fight, lion- 
hearted as he was ; but we may imagine the relief with which he heard 
the news from St. Petersburg, to the effect that Russia would not 
join the other nations against the government at Washington. 

Secretary Seward wrote as follows to Bayard Taylor, charge 
d'affaires at St. Petersburg, on December 23, 1863: "In regard to 
Russia, the case is a plain one. She has our friendship, in every 
case, in preference to any other European power." 

Those were not light words, but were based upon a gratitude 
deeper than words. Secretary Seward knew that a Russian fleet had 
remained in New York harbor, and a Russian squadron in San Fran- 
cisco, ready to act as Lincoln desired in case of European interference 
with the American struggle. The facts were well known at that time, 
but there is an old saying that "republics are ungrateful." 

May the day never come when the American people forget the 
friendship shown for them by Russia and the Russian people in the 
dark days of this nation ! May the hour be at hand when the Ameri- 
can people may show, by practical action in behalf of Russia, that 
their gratitude is not a thing of words! 



[438] 



Wednesday, August 20, 1919 

A Momentous; Conference 

NEXT to the peace treaty itself, the most important document 
before the American people i.s the transcript of the conference 

between the President and I - te committee on foreign 
relations. The revelations contained in this report are of profound 
and far-reaching consequence, which will shake the confidence oi 
Americans in other nations and probably induce the average citizen 
to look with suspicion upon the arrangement made at Paris for the 
leaguing of the nations. 

President Wilson's acknowledgment that certain leading allied 
powers deceived him is an astounding revelation. His countrymen 
will stand solidly behind him in resenting the action of certain allies 
in concealing from him numerous secret bargains at the very moment 
when they were solemnly agreeing to his proposal to make peace 
openly, honorably and justly. These allies had already made their 
arrangements when they agreed to his plan. Their signatures to the 
armistice agreement and their acceptance of the fourteen points were 
therefore deliberately intended to mislead the President and the people 
of the United States. 

That is the most important fact that has been disclosed since the 
armistice was signed. It affects the action of the United States 
hereafter, not merely on this treaty and this proposed league of 
nations, but in its relations with certain European nations. 

This revelation does not make for international confidence, con- 
cord or peace. It will lend color to the sinister intimation of a senator 
at yesterday's conference, that other secret treaties are in existence, 
made during or after the Paris conference. The American people are 
also very apt to ask what the .signatures of certain allies on the league 
of nations are worth, if the principles of the league were violated in 
their making. 

In his welcoming address the President laid stress upon the 
opinion that the league council's recommendation or conclusion "is 
only advice in any case. Each government is free to reject it if it 
pleases." That is quite understandable, standing by itself, but it 
becomes utterly unintelligible when the reader goes further and finds 
the President saying, in reply to a question by Senator Knox, that if 
an occasion should arise in which it was perfectly obvious that external 

[439 J 



A MOMENTOUS CONFERENCE 

aggression against some power could only be repelled by force of 
arms, the United States "would be under an absolutely compelling 
moral obligation" to participate. 

Much was said about moral and legal obligations, but no doubt 
all present would agree that they were wasted words, because any 
treaty obligation of the United States is a moral obligation, and as 
President Wilson properly said, is of greater binding force than a 
mere legal obligation. Hence, when the President tells senators that 
the United States would be under an absolutely compelling moral obli- 
gation to go to war if war should be the only means of protecting any 
nation against external aggression, he destroys entirely the other 
statement that the league council's "advice" may be waved aside by 
any nation as having no binding force. 

Article X, then, the heart of the league of nations, absolutely and 
compellingly binds the United States to go to war to protect the 
territorial integrity and existing political independence of every nation 
in the league. 

In view of the revelations concerning the double dealing of the 
allies in their relations with the United States, it may be questioned 
whether a majority of Americans will now be willing to lend the 
resources of this nation to defend all the nations of the world. 

In his address to the committee the President emphasized the 
importance, in his opinion, of prompt ratification of the treaty for 
the sake of putting industry and finance on an even keel again. This 
is a highly important matter, which should not be delayed for a 
single day unless something still more important warns the American 
people that they should be careful in what they do. Does this revela- 
tion of the allies' bad faith — to speak plainly — serve as such a warn- 
ing? If so, the economic needs of the country will perforce be held 
subordinate to the necessity of keeping the United States independent 
and capable of controlling its own action in dealing with nations that 
have no compunctions in deceiving this government whenever it is to 
their interest to do so. 



[440] 



Saturday, August 23, 1919 

The Fundamental Issue 

NO AMOUNT of discussion has been able to conceal the funda- 
mental question underlying the proposal that the United States 
shall join the league of nations. This question is whether the 
United States shall continue to exercise complete and exclusive control 
over its policies in dealing with other nations, or whether it will bind 
itself to relinquish that control in case of any disputes that may lead 
to war and in other cases in which it is called upon to defend other 
nations from external aggression. 

The essence of the issue is the control of the will of the United 
States. Shall that control be in America, exercised exclusively by 
and for Americans, or shall it be transferred to a council of repre- 
sentatives of foreign governments? 

There can be no dodging of this issue in the final test. The 
league of nations depends upon the actuality of America's surrender 
of its free will. If the United States retains its unrestricted control 
of its own policy, the league of nations will not survive. Its existence 
depends upon the vitality which it can draw from this and other 
nations. As the United States overshadows all other nations at this 
time, the denial of a vital flow of lifeblood from the veins of this 
country into the veins of the league means that the league will perish. 

The proposed treaty of alliance with France is a concrete example 
of the attempted mortgage of the free will of the United States in a 
vital concern. It provides that the United States shall immediately 
go to the support of France in case of unprovoked aggression by 
Germany. The President has said that this treaty merely provides 
for expediting the action that the United States would be bound to 
take in any event under the covenant. We do not pause to dwell 
upon the tweedledum and tweedledee of "morally bound" and "legally 
bound," for if the United States makes any promise at all it makes 
it in good faith. 

Now, is France or the United States the best judge of the time, 
manner and extent of American assistance in case of need? We hold 
that France is infinitely better assured of the support of the United 
States without a treaty than with one. A treaty limits the parties, 
while friendship spurns limitations and is proud of extending its 
bestowals beyond all expectations. France did not expect to see 
2,000,000 American soldiers on her soil fighting in her behalf, but they 

[441] 



THE FUNDAMENTAL ISSUE 

went there eagerly and not in obedience to any treaty. A treaty 
would have given politicians in France an opportunity to make capital 
of the alliance and to shirk their own duties and responsibilities. 

France was asked once to commit herself in advance to a certain 
plan for helping the Poles, who had shed blood in her behalf. She 
decided that she could best befriend the Poles by reserving to herself 
entire freedom of will and action. The incident is well set forth in 
Lamartine's address to a deputation of Poles, in 1848, when Lamar- 
tine was minister of foreign affairs in the newly-created provisional 
government of the republic. The address may be found at page 187 
in volume VII of "The World's Famous Orations," of which William 
Jennings Bryan was editor-in-chief. Lamartine said: 

"France owes you not only good wishes and tears, but moral and 
eventual assistance in return for the Polish blood with which you have 
bedewed every battlefield in Europe during our great wars. France 
will pay her debt; rely on that; trust to the hearts of thirty-six millions 
of Frenchmen. Only leave to France that which exclusively belongs 
to her — the season, the moment and the form, of which Providence 
shall determine the choice and suitability to restore you without 
aggression or bloodshed to that place which is your due in the cata- 
logue of nations. * * * 

"The provisional government will not suffer its policy to be 
changed by a foreign nation, however great the sympathy that may 
be inspired. Poland is dear to us, Italy is dear to us, all oppressed 
peoples are dear to us, but France to us is dearer than all, and the 
responsibilities of her destinies and possibly those of Europe rest 
with us. * * * 

"We as Frenchmen have not to consider the interests of Poland 
alone; we have to consider the universality of that European policy 
which corresponds to all the horizons of France. * * * 

"On the day when it shall seem to us that the moment has arrived 
for the resurrection of a nation unjustly effaced from the map, we 
shall hasten to its assistance. But we have reserved to ourselves that 
which pertains to France alone — the choice of time, justice and the 
reasons which would make it our duty to interfere." 

After many years France was able to join in extending the kind 
of assistance necessary to restore Poland to independence. She 
could not have done this before, even if required to do so by the 
most solemn treaty. The result of an attempt to act at the wrong 
time might have been the destruction of France without helping 
Poland. 

[442] 



Thursday, August 28, 1919 

The Nature of the Treaty 

AFTER the beaten Germans asked for an armistice on the basis 
j[y^ of certain suggestions made by President Wilson, the allied 
and associated powers sent representatives to Paris to draw 
up a treaty. Ostensibly the allied governments agreed to the four- 
teen points as the basis of the treaty, with one reservation (the ques- 
tion of freedom of the seas) ; but as a matter of fact some of the 
allies had already secretly agreed upon peace settlements, and they 
concealed their settlements from the United States and from the 
personage who was the author of the fourteen points. Among the 
matters secretly agreed upon was the taking over by Japan of Ger- 
man acquisitions in Shantung, China, without consulting China. 
Another secret arrangement practically divided the Turkish empire 
among certain powers; another disposed of the German possessions 
in Africa and in the Pacific. 

The President of the United States and the Secretary of State 
have advised the Senate that they knew nothing of these secret agree- 
ments until after they had arrived in Paris to begin the work of open 
conferences looking toward peace with Germany and justice to all 
nations. 

A treaty was drawn up in which the powers, including those 
which had failed to keep good faith with the United States, agreed 
that there should be a new system of leagued nations, in which 
secret agreements would be abolished, disputes arbitrated, armaments 
reduced, and other steps taken to make peace perpetual and auto- 
matic. And then, in the same document, these powers enforced upon 
the American representatives the secret bargains previously made, 
including the Shantung infamy, the partition of Germany's posses- 
sions without reference to America's rights or wishes, the distribution 
of Turkey's territory to the powers secretly agreeing thereto, etc. 
The powers also prevented the transfer to Poland of Danzig, and 
otherwise nullified the fourteen points. They arranged that repara- 
tions should be made by Germany to the extent determined by an 
allied commission which should operate far into the future, entirely 
without reference to the much-advertised new international organism 
that was to regulate the world. Thus the principal task that could 
be performed by a genuine practicable international league was denied 
to the Paris league of nations. 

[443] 



THE NATURE OF THE TREATY 

Now that treaty is before the Senate, and the Senate and the 
people are told that the utmost haste is necessary in ratifying it; 
that Europe will collapse unless the United States accepts the treaty 
exactly as written. The people of Europe were told that the United 
States demanded the league of nations, and now the people of the 
United States are told that Europe demands it. If the European 
allied governments desired the league of nations, why did they write 
into the treaty their rejection of its authority over reparations? Why . 
did they first make sure of apportioning out the territory of the 
defeated empires, by secret treaties, instead of trusting the league to 
make just disposition of the territories? 

The fact is that the European allies took exceeding good care 
to look out for themselves at all stages of the diplomatic game. They 
have divided up the enemies' territories according to their own secret 
arangements, and have rewarded Japan by giving her a slice of an 
ally's territory, there not being enemy possessions in Asia sufficient 
to satisfy the Japanese. 

Open diplomacy was nullified at Paris. Just distribution of 
territory was mocked. The world-wide application of the league of 
nations idea was nullified. Equality of nations in the league was 
destroyed by giving a certain empire six votes while all other nations 
have only one vote each. The rights of small nations were ignored 
in many cases, and the proper demands of many peoples to be granted 
separate national existence were made to appear as criminal con- 
spiracies. 

The people of the United States are asked to accept this arrange- 
ment without scrutinizing it. They are told that it will bring peace 
to the world. They are asked if they wish to jeopardize the world's 
peace by insisting upon changes which, while they would safeguard 
the rights, independence and honor of the United States, would delay 
ratification. Official admission is made that certain secret bargains 
embodied in the treaty are unconscionable and were forced upon the 
American delegates, but the people are asked to sanction these wrongs 
by affixing the name of the United States — the United States, the 
champion of justice, the defender of liberty, the rescuer of free nations! 
Finally, the people are asked to deliver over the free will of their 
country to a foreign organism, made up in such manner as to give 
a preponderance of power to the very nations which concealed from 
the United States the secret treaties which outrage the spirit of 
American fair dealing. 

[444] 



Monday, September 1, 1919 
Is the United States Kept Safe? 

IS THE United States the only great nation that is to be forbidden 
to safeguard itself before joining the league of nations? 

The British empire very properly looked after its own in- 
terest before committing itself to the league. It eliminated from 
President Wilson's fourteen points all reference to "freedom of the 
seas," and neither the treaty of peace nor the league of nations cove- 
nant contains any restriction upon the size or operations of the 
British navy. England is as free now as she ever was to build a 
fleet stronger than that of any other nation. Moreover, the rules 
which President Wilson was to insist upon for the free use of the 
seas in time of peace have been abandoned. The league of nations 
contains absolutely no guarantee for the free navigation of the seas. 
Finally, the British empire made itself doubly sure of protection by 
securing six votes in the league of nations against one vote of any 
other empire, kingdom or republic. 

France very properly took guarantees before joining the league, 
and her chamber of deputies is now questioning whether these guar- 
antees are sufficient. France insisted that the Saar valley should be 
hers; that the reparations exacted from Germany should be under 
control of a commission not responsible in any manner whatever to 
the league of nations ; that the United States and Great Britain should 
pledge themselves to go to her defense in case of another attack by 
Germany; and that neither the United States nor Great Britain 
should be released from this pledge except by consent of the council 
of the league. This consent must be reached by unanimous vote in 
the council, and inasmuch as France is a perpetual member, the 
arrangement simmers down to a pledge which binds this nation for- 
ever, or at the pleasure of France. 

Japan took pains to secure what she wanted before agreeing to 
the league of nations, and then she made sure that the covenant of 
the league would guarantee her undisturbed possession of what she 
had taken. The treaty of peace not only gives Japan an opportunity 
to hold and exploit the richest province of China, but the league cove- 
nant requires the United States and all other countries to support 
Japan if China should attempt to recover her province. 

Italy's status is still to be determined by the treaty with Austria. 
She is the only great power represented at Paris that has not secured 

[445 1 



IS THE UNITED STATES KEPT SAFE? 

advantages in the league of nations at the expense of the United 
States. 

Great Britain's advantages are gained at the expense of Amer- 
ican freedom of commerce on the seas. France's advantages are 
gained at the expense of American freedom of action by creating a 
perpetual alliance. Japan's advantages are gained at the expense 
of America by drawing this country into support of an aggression 
that will almost surely result in war. 

Thus, of the five great powers represented at Paris — America. 
Britain, France, Italy and Japan — three of them have secured what 
they desire and are safe, in or out of the league. If the league proj- 
ect fails, they have gained their objects. If the league project suc- 
ceeds, the league cannot undo what has been done, but must function 
in such a way as to support the advantages gained by the three 
nations in question. 

Two other great nations were not represented in the Paris con- 
ference — Germany and Russia. The first is to become a member 
of the league of nations, if the project is accepted. In that case 
Germany, as an equal partner of other nations (except the British 
empire, which has six votes) will be free to propose amendments to 
the treaty of peace, designed to ease the burden imposed upon Ger- 
many. The league will be compelled to consider the subject if Ger- 
many insists. Thus the entire peace treaty will be reopened, if the 
league project should be adopted. The allies will be unable to take 
any step thereafter without Germany's consent. 

Now, strangest of all, the most populous white nation is entirely 
excluded from the treaty and the league of nations. There is no 
adjustment or plan of adjustment for Russia. That mighty nation 
is left out of the calculations which are proclaimed to be an ideal 
settlement of the world's difficulties and a sure means of preserving 
world peace! 

Did the Paris conference count upon Russia as a friend or an 
enemy? Or did it think it could merely close its eyes and thus elimi- 
nate Russia from the scheme of things? What a picture is prepared 
for the future, when a council of nine gentlemen is to sit at Geneva 
and be required to control a volcano extending from the Baltic and 
Black Sea to the Pacific! 

The question for Americans to determine is this: Is the United 
States made safe and kept safe in the proposed settlement of the 
world? Look into this matter, Americans! 

[446] 



Tuesday, September 2, 1919 

Our First League of Nations 

\ MERICANS are the only persons who may be depended upon 
J^\_ to guard the interests of the United States in connection with 
the proposed league of nations. If Americans do not look after 
their country's rights and interests, no one will. The citizens of 
other countries are doing their best to further the interests of their 
respective countries, without regard to the interests of the United 
States. Throughout the world there is manifest a disposition to gain 
advantages, and the liberality of the United States has been out- 
rageously exploited and abused. 

The covenant of the league of nations was not written by Amer- 
icans or by any persons familiar with the American Constitution. 
The structure of the league is antagonistic to the structure of the 
United States government. One must be altered to adjust it to the 
other if both are to exist. Which shall be altered? The one that has 
been tested for a century and found efficient in securing liberty to 
Americans, or the one that is experimental, untested and unsuitable 
to American methods of government? 

Many superficial students of American history jump to the 
opinion that the proposed league of nations is a step forward in the 
world arena exactly similar to the step taken by the United States 
when it adopted the Constitution. They point to the opposition to 
the Constitution in 1787 by many well-known men, and suggest that 
the present critics of the league of nations are equally mistaken. The 
truth is, however, that the Constitution was adopted as a cure for a 
state of affairs closely resembling that which would exist under the 
proposed league of nations. The American States were leagued to- 
gether in Articles of Confederation which, like the proposed league 
of nations, attempted the impossible task of leaving to each State 
its full sovereignty and yet subjecting it to a central authority. The 
States sometimes obeyed the Continental Congress, but more often 
disobeyed it. When Congress was not in session the government was 
carried forward by an executive committee consisting of one delegate 
from each State, an arrangement resembling the council of the pro- 
posed league of nations. In Congress each State had one vote, and 
at least nine of the thirteen votes were required before even the 
smallest step could be taken. This provision, which resembles the 
league of nations plan, nearly prevented the American people from 

[447] 



OUR FIRST LEAGUE OF NATIONS 

gaining their independence, as it took away the power of the States 
without substituting another effective power. 

The Articles of Confederation could not be amended except by 
unanimous vote — a provision like that of the league of nations. This 
provision finally caused the people of the United States to abolish the 
league and adopt in its place a real Constitution which would estab- 
lish a real government with all the attributes of sovereignty. From 
the hour the American league of nations was abolished and a real 
super-government established there has been liberty and security in 
the United States. A super-government over the States was made 
possible by the homogeneity of the people and the compactness of 
the country. The people were all Christians and were accustomed 
to one language, one system of laws and one standard of living. From 
Massachusetts to Georgia they were one people. Hence, when they 
abolished their unworkable league of nations and created a single 
central Federal republic, they were crowning the system under which 
they had lived and moved. 

The proposed league of nations goes directly contrary to the suc- 
cessful experience of the American people. It would bleed the sov- 
ereignty of the American Union as the Articles of Confederation 
bled the States, without giving strength or security in return. Instead 
of creating an effective central government of the world, which is the 
only imaginable improvement upon the effective central government 
of the United States of America, the authors of the league have made 
the mistake made by the authors of the Articles of Confederation 
of attempting to reconcile the sovereignty of independent nations with 
the sovereignty of a league. It cannot be done. Either the nations 
will remain sovereign and scoff at the league whenever they please, or 
the league will become sovereign and extinguish the independence of 
the nations. 

What will Americans decide now? Will they see the facts as 
clearly as their forefathers saw them in 1781-87, or will they yield 
to clamor and join a league of which they know nothing except that 
it is inconsistent with the American system of maintaining inde- 
pendence and liberty? 



[448] 



Monday, September 15, 1919 
America's Steadying Power 

ONE of the most significant facts in the world at this time is the 
steadying power of American common sense. "The world is 
suffering from shell-shock," said Mr. Lloyd George recently. 
It is an apt saying, except that it must not be applied to the United 
States. This nation has escaped the shock which has made all Euro- 
pean nations stagger and sent some of them into delirium. 

Take the United States from the situation and the heart would 
be appalled at the spectacle of empires and republics lying prostrate 
or shaken nearly to pieces, so badly demoralized that they are unable 
for the time being to resume their normal life. The Four Horsemen 
have ridden roughshod over them, and the sight of the specters has 
shaken their nerve. Individuals and governments are fumbling and 
mumbling over old things that are past and never to be again, or 
slowly spelling out the meaning of new things that are still partly 
hidden. There are nations in Europe which are actually stunned by 
the advent of a freedom that is as normal and commonplace to an 
American as the air he breathes. The mind of millions of Europeans 
finds difficulty in responding quickly to the new rule of life. It 
lapses into instinctive prostrations before ancient and now obselete 
autocratic authority, or it bursts wildly into excesses of license and 
anarchy. Very few newly established free governments in Europe 
are yet in the equilibrium between anarchy and despotism. They are 
oscillating violently and may have severe accidents before they find 
and keep the middle of the road. 

Above the chaos and smoke of Europe looms America, as solid 
as earth and as serene as heaven. It is a figure bathed in light, visible 
from every quarter, sending out hope and confidence to every nook 
and corner of the world. The peasants on the Russian steppes see 
the western glory and are patient. The stricken ones, whose wrists 
are still galled by Hohenzollern and Hapsburg thongs, are not over- 
come by their surrounding hardships when they see the light of liberty. 
The nations of Europe look upon their lusty comrade across the At- 
lantic and take fresh courage. In the eyes of hundreds of millions in 
the Old World the figure of the United States is a literal Goddess of 
Liberty, whose war strength is destruction and whose peace strength 
is justice itself. 

[449] 



AMERICA'S STEADYING POWER 

No individual since the creation of mankind has had more reason 
to be proud than the citizen of the United States — any citizen, for 
all are equal. To be an American is an honor that makes any man 
greater, no matter how richly nature may have endowed him. No 
American has ever exhausted the possibilities of honor which reside 
in American citizenship. He is a partner in humanity's most marvel- 
ous achievement, and a beneficiary in a system that has had no par- 
allel for perpetuating justice and freedom. The greatest of men have 
been made more noble by reason of being Americans and partaking of 
the immensity and freedom of America. George Washington was a 
natural chief of men, but he delighted to be the equal of Americans. 
Abraham Lincoln was sublimely great, but his greatness found plenty 
of room in America. These immortals were pure and humble of heart, 
who wore greatness naturally, as a familiar cloak. They lived, worked 
and died as Americans, and under God they worshiped nothing but 
their country. Their eminence as builders and preservers is perpetual, 
because they devoted themselves solely to America. They are rev- 
erenced by humanity by reason of their service to all humanity in 
founding and saving the American republic. 

At this troublous time, when the world is shaking with the re- 
treating thunders of war and stupefied by the hardships of want and 
famine, it is fortunate for mankind that the American people are 
absolutely free, normal and prosperous. The United States is as 
free as George Washington or Abraham Lincoln to think and act 
nobly in behalf of humanity. The brain of this nation is clear. The 
heart of the nation is pure. The American brain, directed by the Amer- 
ican heart, will work wonderfully for the quick salvation of the world. 
The first requisite is unshackled freedom of will and action. There 
must be no restriction upon American purposes in befriending the 
world. This nation cannot do its best when it is hampered by the 
ignorant advice of aliens or bound by ill-considered obligations which 
limit and misdirect its powers. 

America must direct America. There is no other prompt and 
sure method of aiding the world to recover and be free. 



[450] 



Saturday, September 27, 1919 

The Cause of Wars 

THE peace conference at Paris, which has put forth two treaties 
of peace and is about to put forth two more, is demonstrating 
to the world the fatal character of the departures from right 
and justice which the allies have made. A war is developing in the 
Adriatic which threatens to involve the United States — the United 
States, a nation whose very existence has been perpetuated by avoid- 
ance of Old World complications. Another war is brewing in the 
Orient, which also threatens to involve the United States. A third 
war, of stupendous portent, is growing out of the failure of the allies 
to rescue the Russian people from the grasp of Germany. This war 
will, of course, involve the United States. 

The root of the failure at Paris goes down to the infected soil 
of secret diplomacy. When the statesmen assembling at Paris began 
their secret bargaining they threw away the victory over Germany. 
That fact is now beginning to appear in naked and terrible outlines, 
as people after people become involved in the broils resulting from 
failure and injustice at Paris. The strangest figure of all is the United 
States, a nation that never before participated in secret treaties, 
whose dealings with other nations were always an open book, and 
whose treaties were always submitted to the Senate and made public. 
Now, through processes which the people do not understand, the 
United States is involved in Russia, in the Adriatic, in China and in 
Africa, with no prospect whatever of withdrawal before the shedding 
of the blood of Americans in strange quarrels. 

The supreme council at Paris was charged with the duty of 
making an effective peace by imposing its own terms upon a power- 
less enemy. The council had the world's triumphant power con- 
centrated in its hands. It held the power of life and death over na- 
tions. It was not restrained by instructions, for it was composed of 
the individuals who originated instructions. It was not amenable to 
any written constitution. It made its rules as it went along. It 
defined its own limitations and laid down its own principles of action. 
As a creator is greater than its creature, so the conference was greater 
than a league of nations. 

Yet, when the test came, this all-powerful body proved a failure, 
as time is now revealing. It failed because it feared the peoples 

[451] 



THE CAUSE OF WARS 



and presumed to set itself above them in wisdom and virtue. It dared 
not submit to the peoples of the world a daily complete record of 
its doings, because those doings would not bear the light of truth and 
justice. Those doings consisted of bargainings over secret treaties 
made before and during the war, which actually transferred peoples 
about as though they were chattels, exactly as President Wilson de- 
clared would never be tolerated again. 

In the course of this bargaining all the victorious powers became 
involved, the United States included. Thus, a secret treaty required 
the powers to sanction the mutilation of one of their own allies. Lack- 
ing the courage to trample down that infamous secret bargain, the 
conference accepted it, and for all time wrote itself down the be- 
trayer of China. Lacking the courage to go forth and befriend the 
Russian people, who had suffered 65 per cent of the death losses of 
the allies, the conference actually proposed to meet the slayers of 
Russia, with a view to making such a peace with them as would leave 
them in control of their spoils. Confronted with a dilemma arising 
from an effort to reconcile two irreconcilable "peace points," the con- 
ference denied to Italians the right to live under the Italian flag. 
Finally, overwhelmed by problems caused by the conflict between 
justice and secret treaties, the conference dumped a dozen incipient 
wars into an article of the peace treaty, by providing that a league 
of nations should become sovereign over territory conquered from 
Germany, Turkey, Austria and Bulgaria. The nations anxious to 
gain control over these enemy territories are now beginning the process 
which ends in war. 

Europe's policy of saying one thing and doing another is Europe's 
concern. If Europe wishes to talk of open diplomacy and continue 
the practice of making secret treaties, let Europe do so. If Europe 
has made secret treaties intended to offset the provisions of the pro- 
posed league of nations, there is no means whereby Americans can 
even know of the act, much less prevent it. But Americans can keep 
the United States out of the intrigues, broils, enmities and wars 
resulting from secret bargains, if they wish to do so. 



[452 



Sunday, October 5, 1919 
The Anglo-Persian Treaty 

NO ONE who has given even superficial attention to the treaty 
between Great Britain and Persia, signed August 9, can fail 
to see that the British government has willingly or unwillingly 
dealt a blow to the proposed league of nations. Before the ink was 
dry upon Great Britain's ratification of the peace treaty, and indeed 
while the British parliament was discussing the covenant, the nego- 
tiations at Teheran had reached the point where the independence 
of Persia was surrendered and the control of the nation transferred to 
British hands. 

It is highly probable that the change will be greatly beneficial 
to the Persians from a material point of view — that is not the point. 
Nor is it exactly to the point to say that the stabilization of Persia 
is a necessity to the British empire, as one of the London journals 
explains the case. There will be critics of this matter who will object 
to the treaty on various grounds. It is not the purpose at this time 
to suggest objections to the treaty except in its bearings upon the 
league of nations. If it is incompatible with the league of nations 
it becomes a question of interest to the United States, which is asked 
to become one of the pillars of the league that is to prevent the 
extinction of the independence of nations. 

Why could not Persia become a patient of the league of nations? 
Why should one nation take charge of Persia, when a syndicate of 
nations is about to be formed to attend to such cases? If Persia is 
a burden, the hard-pressed Britons should not be required to carry 
it alone; and if control of Persia is profitable, the benefits should go 
into the slender stock of resources of the league of nations. The 
British newspapers put forth somewhat conflicting statements on the 
question. The Times says "there were many reasons why Great Britain 
alone was in a position to render her the further help she needed," 
and that there will be a "modest loan" to Persia, while Great Britain 
will supply expert advisers for the various departments of the Persian 
administration, besides furnishing officers, munition and equipment 
for the Persian army. The London Post suggests that the services of 
British troops during the war "entitle this country to some recogni- 
tion," as though the burden of administering Persia were an advan- 
tage. Moreover, says the Post, "one has only to look at a map of 
the middle East to see the vital importance of Persia to the British 

[453] 



THE ANGLO-PERSIAN TREATY 

empire." "It would have been sheer madness," it adds, "on the part of 
Great Britain had she failed to respond to the overtures from Teheran. 
She is, further, the only allied power which marches with Persia." 

The extent of British control over Persia may be gathered from 
perusing the brief but all-comprehensive treaty. It is similar in scope 
to the control which Japan proposed to China in the "twenty-one 
demands," although the economic features do not appear in the Anglo- 
Persian compact. Although the Persian treaty speaks of categorical 
acknowledgment of the independence of Persia, the provisions, if 
carried out in good faith, make it impossible for Persia to remain in- 
dependent. An attempt to throw off British advice and guidance 
would be a gross violation of the treaty, so gross as to give Great 
Britain ample cause for enforcing her rights. 

Persia has been invited to become a member of the league of 
nations. Will she join the league, and if so, will she attempt to act 
as an equal among independent nations, or will the Anglo-Persian 
pact be abrogated by mutual consent, in accordance with the provi- 
sions of Article 20 of the covenant? All nations contemplating mem- 
bership in the league of nations are interested in the peculiar ques- 
tions which arc thrust forward by the treaty between Great Britain 
and Persia, for around these questions are grouped the rights of all 
nations. 

This treaty, incidentally, exhibits the chaotic conditions in 
Europe, where widely differing proposals are made for the rescue and 
maintenance of nations as weak or weaker than Persia. Not all of 
these weak nations can call upon the British empire to come in and 
stabilize them. 



454] 



Friday, October 10, 1919 

The Future of France 

TIME and nature are doing more for Europe than man and 
treaties. The treaty of peace is in shreds in several places, 
even before it is ratified. The peoples in several countries are 
wilfully idle, even in the face of starvation. But time is filling 
breaches in the walls, and nature is covering blasted places with vege- 
tation. Men's memories are short for good and long for evil, and 
they return slowly and ineffectively to the full shifts of peaceful 
labor. While they hesitate they run the chance of starvation, for no 
law will make loaves of bread. 

Time will wear out men's memories. They will quit dwelling 
upon their injuries and the hideous outrages of the war. Their chil- 
dren will tell them to cease the recital of old wrongs. The new gen- 
eration will be on the side of time and nature in hastening full re- 
covery. Already this process is evident in some of the devastated 
places, where a new spirit is evident in the younger element, a spirit 
resembling the eager energy of American plainsmen, and goldseekers. 
Nature, too, is doing wonderful work, somewhat harshly here and 
there, but on the whole mercifully. The unfit and the wasted ones, 
worn to death, are taken away, while the strong and fit are nourished 
to maturity. The fields gashed by war are undergoing a mellowing 
chemical treatment which will make them fruitful again, sooner than 
the despairing natives had imagined to be possible. 

If the treaty is enforced even roughly as its main terms provide, 
France will become the towering nation of all Europe. There is no 
limitation upon the military strength that France may amass, while 
Germany's military strength is limited and placed under the regula- 
tion of the allies. Assuming that the treaty will remain in effect 
and be enforced, France will always be able to administer a killing 
check to German military plans. Whether France will be vigilant 
enough in gathering information of the treacherous Hun's real plans, 
and stern enough to repress them remains to be seen, but the power 
to do this is placed in France's hands by the treaty. The league of 
nations cannot interfere, for the commission to be in control of Ger- 
many will not be under the jurisdiction of the league of nations. 

Statesmanship of the highest order, more far-seeing and more 
energetic than France has ever seen, is now required for the guidance 
of that nation if its possible destiny is to be fully experienced. The 

[455] 



THE FUTURE OF FRANCE 

French people have before them a splendid vista of national glory. 
They have full opportunity for the development of their unique genius 
in science and art. Under the French flag there is more territory than 
under the Stars and Stripes. This colonial empire is capable of pro- 
ducing immense wealth, with corresponding benefit to the whole world 
if intelligently developed. 

Although a frightful loss of young French manhood has been 
inflicted, the nation can recuperate quickly if its people can fully 
grasp the meaning of the situation in which France finds itself. The 
nation is virile, with unconquerable vitality and possessed of robust 
and homely qualities that make for sanity, prosperity and long life. 
There is no reason why the population of France should not increase 
at a satisfactory rate, counting the increment of foreigners who will 
invigorate the nation, the better economic conditions following 
national predominance and the inspiration that victory and glory 
ought to instill in every French heart. 

The victory opens up tempting roads toward militarism which 
France would do well to avoid. Already there is evident a rapid 
growth of the imperialist spirit in the groups that have been con- 
cerned with the protection and extension of French interests abroad. 
In Africa, Asia Minor, eastern Europe and in the Adriatic region the 
French military elements are quite as active and ambitious as the 
best interests of France could require. The earnest differences be- 
tween France and Great Britain over the disposition of Syria do not 
reveal any infirmity of purpose on the part of France. Readjust- 
ments in Africa have given the French army officers new fields of 
activity, and without doubt that continent will be the training ground 
of other generals like Leyautey, Gouraud and Mangin. 

Commercially France enjoys advantages over Germany which 
should bring great prosperity to French importers and exporters. The 
basic iron and steel industry of Europe has been virtually transferred 
bodily from Germany to France. It has not gained its pre-war mo- 
mentum, but there is reason to believe that it will become greater 
than ever. The regaining of the steel industry ought to make France 
a strong shipbuilding nation, with corresponding profit in extensions 
of foreign commerce. By moderation in adjusting pending questions, 
by avoidance of a chauvinistic spirit, and by diligent use of the 
natural advantages which the victory has left in her hands, France 
will make rapid progress toward richness and greatness far exceeding 
her past. 



[456] 



Wednesday, November 12, 1919 

Saving the United States 

ONE YEAR ago today the world was rejoicing at the cessation of 
fighting, without counting the price that was paid to Mars for 
quitting his slaughter. There is not so much rejoicing now as 
the civilized portion of the world has been driven to the reluctant con- 
clusion that the armistice was premature and that the peace ensuing 
from it is of a precarious and unsatisfactory character. 

A few more weeks of fighting would have enabled the free nations 
to dictate their own peace to an enemy who had been forced into 
unconditional surrender. The basis of the armistice is now seen to 
have been unstable, partly because of German treachery and partly 
because of the inapplicability of certain ideals to the realities of 
Europe. Germany has taken prompt advantage of the weaknesses of 
the armistice and the peace treaty, and is now building up another 
war machine for the conquest of Europe, if possible the world. In- 
stead of quibbling over Alsace-Lorraine and the Saar Valley, Ger- 
many is shrewdly and cold-bloodedly concentrating upon the much 
greater opportunities in the east. Russia is now her objective. In- 
terior Germany is a beehive of industry, with factories resuming 
operations on a bigger scale than ever. Workingmen are working 
eight hours for themselves and "four hours for the fatherland," which 
stripped of the Teutonic gloss, means "four hours for preparation for 
revenge." 

A German army is on Russian soil, while the allied armies have 
been demobilized. An inter-allied military mission is endeavoring to 
induce the German government and its army chieftains to withdraw 
this army and abandon the attempt to gain control of Russia, but 
there is little or no force behind the allied mission; hence Germany 
is quite apt to continue the double-dealing policy of paying apparent 
respect to allied "requests," while actually rejecting them. 

The delay in ratifying the peace treaty has prevented the repara- 
tions commission from taking charge of affairs in Germany. ■ This 
delay has been utilized by Germany with feverish energy. Stocks 
and machinery that belong to France and Belgium have been con- 
cealed. All kinds of assets have been whisked out of sight. The 
country will be a bare cupboard when the reparations commission 
begins its work. Then, if the commission is not actually backed by 
visible overwhelming force, it is a foregone conclusion that the traitors 

[4571 



SAVING THE UNITED STATES 

to honor with whom the commission is dealing will resort to every 
species of treachery to nullify the treaty engagements made by Ger- 
many. The treaty is and will be a dead letter wherever and when- 
ever the Germans can make it so; and in the last analysis only mili- 
tary force will cause them to desist. 

The delay in ratifying the treaty is accounted for by the terms 
of the document itself. It was begun with the understanding that 
certain desirable principles should be followed. It was ended with 
the open violation of those principles. On one point after another 
the peace conference shifted from principle to secret bargaining, until 
the treaty became a mass of engagements confirming secret agreements 
made by the European powers without any regard whatever to the 
rights of peoples, and without the knowledge or consent of the United 
States. The American representatives, instead of repudiating these 
engagements and insisting upon adherence to the armistice agree- 
ments, were drawn into one pledge after another, always with the 
excuse that the league of nations would come into being and wipe 
away all stains, including the stain upon the league of nations itself. 

The treaty came before the Senate, with the alternative of quick 
ratification for the purpose of fastening an effective peace upon Ger- 
many, or careful scrutiny for the purpose of safeguarding the honor 
and vital interests of the United States. The Senate chose the latter 
course, having satisfied itself of the inherent treachery of the Ger- 
man nation and of the impossibility of making satisfactory peace a 
certainty by the mere act of ratifying an unsatisfactory and inade- 
quate pact. 

The security of the United States, in the opinion of a majority 
of the Senators, became a more important matter than the question- 
able security of Europe. If any nation can save the world the United 
States must be that nation, in the opinion of the Senate majority, 
and for that reason the treaty will be ratified in such a manner as 
to insure the unfettered strength, freedom of will and action, and 
integrity of purpose of the United States. Then, when the test comes, 
as it surely will, there will be one nation at least which will stand 
as a tower of strength for the maintenance of free government among 
men. 

That is the best that can be done, considering the breakdown of 
the high purpose of the armistice and the failure at Paris. 



[4581 



Saturday, November 15, 1919 

Relations With Other Nations 

THE United States Senate has now taken such decisive action 
on the treaty of peace as to make a little clearer the perspective 
into the future. It is worth while to weigh the meaning of the 
Senate's action and the probable consequences that will develop from 
the Senate's frame of mind. 

The adoption of the sweeping reservation touching Article X 
means more than the assertion of the right of Congress to determine 
how, when and where the United States shall assist other nations. It 
means that the United States refuses to assume any obligation to 
assist any other nation or to interfere in the affairs of other nations. 
There will be neither a legal nor a moral obligation to bolster up any 
country, to dictate its boundaries, to assist it to rob another country, 
to deprive it of its rights, to deny it the essentials of independence, 
to boycott and blockade it, or to assert overlordship over part of its 
territory, all of which the United States has undertaken or would 
have undertaken to do in specific cases if the reservation had not 
been made. The countries affected by these specific cases are Czecho- 
slovakia, Jugoslavia, Poland, Italy, China, Japan, Turkey, Russia, 
Austria and Greece. The mere mention of the complications that 
faced the United States because of its proposed policy of intermed- 
dling would fill many columns. 

The Senate having vetoed that policy, and having indicated its 
determination to adopt other reservations which complete the demoli- 
tion of the structure reared at Paris, the question arises, What will 
be the relation of the United States to other nations? 

The answer depends partly upon the Senate's conception of the 
duty of the United States. The reservations deal almost wholly 
with the duty of the United States to itself. Some of the Senators 
have a lively realization of the duty of the United States to other 
nations, and they feel that the reservations have destroyed the op- 
portunity of this country to spend itself in service to humanity. 
They are now inclined to vote for rejection of the treaty. Eagerly 
joining them in opposition to ratification are some of the Senators 
who championed the reservations, because these senators opposed the 
treaty from every aspect. Therefore it seems quite possible that the 
treaty will not pass the Senate. 

[459] 



RELATIONS WITH OTHER NATIONS 

Behind this treaty stands another — the treaty pledging the as- 
sistance of the United States to France in case of an unprovoked 
attack by Germany. The French government insisted upon this 
treaty as a substitute for the surrender of the left bank of the Rhine, 
which France really desired as a guarantee of safety. Apparently 
the American and British delegates, determined to push through the 
league of nations at any cost, persuaded France to abandon her own 
plan of safety and accept the assurance that the United States and 
Great Britain would make her safe by treaties of alliance. This 
was all right so far as Great Britain was concerned, for Mr Lloyd 
George had the power to ratify such a treaty, but Mr. Wilson's as- 
surances were always contingent upon approval by the Senate. 

The proposed treaty of alliance would have to be amended in 
any event before it could pass the Senate, for it attempts to deny the 
power of the United States to abrogate a treaty without the con- 
sent of the council of the league of nations. That is one of the blunders 
committed by the negotiators in their haste at Paris, where they were 
out of touch with persons familiar with the Constitution. But it is 
a quesion whether the treaty of alliance will be ratified, even if 
amended, for the reason that it commits the United States to the 
vicissitudes of foreign politics, something which the Senate has just 
refused to do. With the treaty effective, French or German politi- 
cians could plunge the United States into war by a series of crimes or 
blunders. It seems highly improbable that the United States will ever 
enter into such an arrangement. 

France, however, expects some asurance of assistance from the 
United States in case of dire need, and she should have it. The 
obvious step to be taken is that heretofore suggested by The Post, 
and approved by many public men: The United States should make 
a formal and solemn declaration that it will not view with uncon- 
cern any attack upon free government in the Old World, and will 
take such steps as in its own judgment are suitable to deal with such 
an emergency. 

A declaration to that effect would have equal or greater force 
than a treaty of alliance with France, for it would be notice to the 
world that the United States will do again what it has just done in 
Europe, if the world's liberty and peace require such action; and that 
it will act in its own way, delivering its strength when, how and 
where it deems best. 

That declaration would be for the Old World what the Monroe 
Doctrine is for the New World. 

[4601 



Sunday, November 16, 1919 
The Friend of France 

WHILE the Senate proceeds with its program of denning and 
limiting the extent of American participation in the league 
of nations, French public opinion is sadly puzzled by what 
appears in Paris to be a heartless abandonment by the United States 
of its obligations to the allies, particularly France. 

One of the clearest expressions of this wonderment comes from 
M. Gauvain, editor of the Journal des Debats. He says the ques- 
tion placed before the Senate was this: "Does the treaty of Versailles 
offer such guarantees of fairness and permanence that America, which 
entered the war for the liberty of the world, can accept her respon- 
sibility?" But the play of international politics, in his opinion, has 
changed the question so as to make it appear as follows: "President 
Wilson, as the chief of the Democratic party, appears to have ex- 
ceeded his constitutional powers during the debates at Paris and Ver- 
sailles; are we not to take this occasion and show that never again 
can any President commit such an abuse?" The Senate, he says, is 
reaching the decision to maintain the doctrine of isolation, in view of 
the fact that the war is over and that America possesses most of the 
fortune of the world. 

Then the distinguished editor presents the case for France. "We 
regarded the President of the United States as the messenger of 
America," he says, "and as the holder of a mandate until he had been 
recalled. The treaty, be it good or bad, was constructed always in 
concert with — often under direction of — the representative of the 
United States; hence the moral responsibility of America." 

Americans have heard a great deal of "moral obligation" and 
"moral responsibility," but they will hardly accept as binding a prece- 
dent which would commit them to any and all projects proposed 
by their treaty negotiators, before these projects had been made into 
treaties by the approval of the Senate. It is impossible for negotiators 
to bind the United States under the Constitution, and foreign govern- 
ments and peoples are always on notice regarding the nature of the 
American treaty-making power. It is not a question of partisanship, 
as the French easily imagine. It is not a question of refusal to rec- 
ognize America's duty to the world. It is not a question of capturing 
all the wealth of the world and then returning to a policy of isolation. 

[461] 



THE FRIEND OF FRANCE 

"France today is astonished," says M. Gauvain, "that no voice 
has been raised in the American Senate to declare that America, 
having been associated with the allies to win the war, cannot, without 
abandoning the most important part of her task, separate herself from 
them before peace has been achieved, before the treaty has been put 
into effect. A treaty without America means that the peace of the 
world is put in peril or destroyed in the manner already planned by 
Germany." 

If Americans are represented by the Senate, as must be assumed 
by the last election and its effects, it is evident that a majority of 
the people of this country will not agree with the French editor that 
"a treaty without America means that the peace of the world is put 
in peril or destroyed in the manner already planned by Germany." 
Americans would put these questions: Does France substitute ideals 
for facts in such an extent as to rely upon a treaty signed by the 
treacherous hand of Germany, instead of relying upon the strength 
of France and her allies to destroy Germany in case she should at- 
tempt to execute her plans to destroy the world's peace? Is not 
France mistaking America's decision to maintain her independence 
of action for an abandonment of her duty? Is it not quite possible 
that America's independence of action will enable her to perform 
her duty to the world far more effectively than if she were entangled 
in the botchwork called the league of nations? Is not France placing 
too much reliance upon a scheme that has already been proved im- 
practicable, and too little reliance upon the true friendship of Amer- 
ica, which has just been sealed by the blood of Americans on French 
soil? 

It is a serious situation that has arisen. The elections to be held 
in France today may be injuriously affected by the mistaken idea 
that America has turned its back upon the allies and that France 
has been left without any security against German attack. The truth 
is that Germany is no longer a match for France; that America is as 
stanch a friend of France as when the armies were fighting side by 
side; that the imposition of the project of the league of nations upon 
France on the ground that it was the will of the United States is not 
a good reason for imposing the league upon the United States on the 
ground that it is a necessity for France ; that the people of the United 
States are alive to their moral responsibility and will not abandon it; 
and that if Germany in another burst of insanity should attack 
France the American people would move quickly to assist in annihi- 
lating the Hun, all the more quickly because they were prevented 
from doing a thorough job in November, 1918. 

[462] 



Tuesday, November 18, 1919 
Free Nations Getting Together 

THE conditions in Europe and the relations between the United 
States and its European friends are becoming more satisfactory, 
leaving Russia out of consideration for the moment. The 
elections in France and Italy are most gratifying to Americans, as 
they reveal that strong and pure nationalism is in firm control, not- 
withstanding all the intrigues and boastings of the bolshevists, open 
and secret. France is mistress of her destiny, and Italy stands secure. 
That is the inspiring news that comes to encourage those Americans 
who are fighting to keep their country out of the meshes of an en- 
tangling treaty and free from the intrigues of Germanism and bol- 
shevism. 

An unadulterated national spirit is the best shield that a free 
nation can find. Instead of enfeebling its nationalism by relying upon 
an experiment in internationalism, each nation can best promote its 
welfare and maintain its security by developing its own spirit of 
complete independence and by keeping alive the patriotism of its 
people. A distinct nation, acting as a unit, has great influence in 
the world, even though it be small in population and feeble in war 
resources — witness Belgium, Czecho-Slovakia, Greece and others. A 
nation without strong nationalistic spirit is lacking in international 
influence — witness China. 

The nations will have no difficulty in cooperating. There is no 
danger that they will fail to cooperate successfully for their common 
welfare, unless peradventure the entanglements and doubts in the 
league of nations make them all suspicious and constrain them to 
stand aloof from one another. They had no difficulty in cooperating 
during the war, when there was no league of nations. They are now 
having difficulty in agreeing upon the league of nations. The more 
they study the covenant the greater become the perplexities and the 
more numerous the mental reservations of each nation. 

The friends of free government are glad that France and Italy 
have held true to their individuality and their national aspirations. 
In that direction lie both peace and justice. The more firmly that 
France determines to preserve her existence, at any cost, the more 
surely will it be preserved in its entirety and with fullness of pros- 
perity. The more fixed Italy becomes in the determination to make 

[463] 



FREE NATIONS GETTING TOGETHER 

her own boundaries secure, the more surely will there be peace and 
commerce in the Adriatic and the Mediterranean. 

The elections in France and Italy are a bugle call of friendship 
and sympathy to the hard-pressed loyalists of Russia. The Russian 
people are fighting desperately to recover their nationalism and to 
enter the family of nations under a free government of their own 
making. They are greatly helped by the decision of France and 
Italy to hold the reptile of bolshevism under the heel of law and 
order. Bolshevists everywhere will hear the news with sinking hearts, 
for it is the death-knell of their hopes of overturning Europe and 
America. 

It is unfortunate that the allied nations should gain the impres- 
sion that the United States, in denning the nature and extent of its 
adherence to the league of nations scheme, is indifferent to their 
troubles. But this impression is the result of insufficient and mis- 
leading information. The censorship during the Paris conference 
accomplished wonders in separating the peoples of the Old and New 
World and causing each to believe that the other was demanding the 
league of nations, when as a matter of fact neither Europe nor the 
United States ever demanded or desired the league in the form in 
which it was foisted upon them. The European nations accepted the 
project because they were helpless. The United States is not help- 
less, but on the contrary it is strong enough to protect itself and other 
free nations now, as it was on the battlefield. 

The European nations are wondering what will happen if the 
treaty with Germany should not be ratified by the United States. 
One thing they may be assured will happen, treaty or no treaty: If 
Germany should send an army against France, the United States will 
have an army there also. It is not the treaty that protects France; 
it is the blood and liberty-loving spirit of free men in France, Eng- 
land, America and other nations. The treaty is merely a piece of 
paper, a contract with — whom? The treaty bears the signature of 
Germans as testimony that it will be observed. Does France rely 
for safety upon these signatures? Does England? Very properly, 
each of the allied nations takes good care of its own safety, quite 
aside from the treaty; and the United States Senate is taking the 
same step with regard to the United States. The allied nations and 
the United States would be simple indeed if they should place their 
sole reliance upon a treaty with a perjured and dishonorable people 
who do not know the meaning of good faith, and who are now engaged 
in plans for violating the compact which they have solemnly promised 
to observe. 

[464] 



Wednesday, November 19, 1919 
The World's Money Sickness 

OWING to unacceptable provisions in the treaty of peace against 
which the Senate has been compelled to shield the United 
States, many months have been lost which might have been 
used in readjusting Europe. The European nations have not been 
able to act independently of the treaty, and the United States has 
been engrossed in the struggle between those who would entangle this 
country in interminable difficulties and those who are determined 
that America shall never be governed or controlled by any one but 
Americans. 

If the treaty had been one of peace immediately imposed upon 
Germany, as the military commanders expected when they agreed to 
the armistice, the allied and enemy nations could have proceeded 
forthwith to apply economical measures intended to cushion the shock 
of after-war conditions. But the Paris conference predicated the 
treaty upon a visionary project of peace based upon perfection in 
human nature, German nature included, with the result that there is 
no peace at all. Mr. Lloyd George says the German army must be 
dislodged from the Baltic region before there can be secure peace. 
The enemy is armed and is engaged in military operations which the 
allies do not seem to be able to prevent. 

In the meantime some governments are still obsessed with the 
idea that they can cure an economic malady with a political nostrum, 
the league of nations. While the printing presses of Europe are work- 
ing overtime, turning out paper money that becomes cheaper with 
every revolution of the press, the governments talk of throwing their 
burdens upon the legendary supersovereign at Geneva, consisting of 
nine gentlemen of as many colors, who are to be charged with the 
supervision of the nations. 

The circulation of paper money in France is now $1,000,000,000 
(face value) larger than it was when the armistice was signed. The 
exact figures are: Armistice day, £1,222,828,400; September 11, 
£1,427,266,800. These figures are from the London Times, reporting 
the note circulation of the Bank of France. Is it any wonder that 
the franc is worth less than 11 cents? At the rate of paper money 
increase the franc will soon be worth no more than Villa money. 

The German mark has gone down to 3 cents, with floods of paper 
marks issuing from the German presses in a frantic and fruitless 

[4651 



THE WORLD'S MONEY SICKNESS 

effort to meet the situation. The Austrian kroner is almost worth- 
less. The Italian lira is diluted to a ruinous point. The money of 
several other European nations is depreciated, not excepting the 
British pound sterling. The British government is straining every 
nerve to reduce the ratio of paper money to gold, and has made a 
slight impression, but not enough to afford any feeling of security 
or to improve the value of the pound in the world's money market. 

The world's gold moves by irresistible attraction to the United 
States, the creditor nation. As the gold reserve increases the exchange 
value of the dollar increases, but unfortunately, also, the temptation 
to expand credits increases in intensity. The tendency to speculate, 
to raise prices, to indulge in extravagance, and to quit work is spurred 
by the knowledge that there is "money to burn." Much of the unrest 
in the United States is psychological, due directly to the corrupting 
influence of too much easy money. The newly rich are squanderers, 
and the wage earners are demoralized by the lavish display of wealth 
and the slump in purchasing power of such money as they earn. The 
gap between the rich and poor seems to grow wider, and the vicious 
and ignorant elements among the poor become easy victims of criminal 
agitators. 

The United States is the stronghold of the world. It can save 
the world from universal bankruptcy and barbarism, but it cannot per- 
form its service by chasing a vision into dreamland, or by waving a 
juggler's wand. It can help others by first making sure of itself and 
its freedom of action, and then by taking charge of the situation in 
behalf of all the casualties among the nations. These disabled nations 
must soon agree to conform to a plan of relief organized and super- 
vised by the United States. There is no time to lose, as some of the 
best nations are economically bleeding to death. It is up to the 
American people to save Europe and the world. The task is purely 
practical and has nothing to do with the league of nations. A few 
strong men have tackled the problem, but they have not yet solved 
it. They have had no help from the government. 

When a plan for restoring the value of Europe's money is evolved 
and agreed upon, the world will begin to be safe for democracy and 
other ideals. It is not safe now. 



[466] 



Friday, November 21, 1919 

In the President's Hands 

\ LL EYES are turned toward President Wilson, now that the Sen- 
J^\^ ate has been compelled to follow up its warning by actually 
refusing to accept unreservedly the treaty of peace. The major- 
ity of the Senate unmistakably represent the majority of the American 
people in rejecting certain propositions embodied in the treaty and in 
the covenant of the league of nations. In every possible manner, by 
round robin, by popular protest, by elections, and by test votes in the 
Senate, the warning was given that unless certain reservations were 
accepted the treaty would be rejected. These warnings were ignored, 
and no concession whatever was made to the public will as expressed 
by the Senate majority. The result is defeat and the loss of six 
months in the critical period of world recuperation. 

Will President Wilson now recognize the right of the Senate to 
share in the treaty-making power, and will he acknowledge that the 
Senate faithfully reflects the will of the people in making reservations 
to the treaty? If so, all will be well, for the Senate does not wish 
to kill the treaty, and the people have not commanded the Senate to 
kill it. 

President Wilson has made a gallant fight, and there is no reason 
why he should not now accept the result of the battle. Every possible 
effort was made by the President's faithful adherents in the Senate. 
They did not lose their fight through faulty generalship, through 
biased rulings of the chair, or through unexpected strokes of the 
enemy. They lost because they could not muster votes enough to win. 
They were beaten fairly and squarely in open combat. In such an 
event it is the American spirit to accept the consequences in good 
humor, and to proceed forthwith to execute the will of the people as 
expressed by the majority. That is what the people did when Mr. 
Wilson's election was determined by a few thousand votes in Cali- 
fornia. As soon as the will of the majority was ascertained it was 
cheerfully obeyed. That is the spirit which ought to be observed by 
the senators who fought so stubbornly for ratification without reser- 
vation. 

The President should now accept the reservations made by the 
majority and ask his supporters to vote for them upon resubmission 
of the question to the Senate, or he should throw the treaty overboard 
and make his decision known to the country and to Europe without 

[467] 



IN THE PRESIDENT'S HANDS 

delay. Nothing is to be gained by beginning another struggle to secure 
ratification of the treaty without reservations. Much is to be lost by 
such a procedure. The country is in urgent need of legislation, and 
cannot afford to sacrifice its domestic well-being to further fruitless 
discussions of the treaty by the Senate. 

By frankly accepting the will of the majority, the President can 
quickly dispose of the treaty by resubmitting it and obtaining the 
Senate's ratification with reservations. He can thereby save the 
treaty and the league of nations. If the league of nations should 
prove beneficial to the world it will earn the confidence of the United 
States in due time, and means will be found to perfect its covenant 
according to the needs of the world. The President is so profoundly 
in earnest in his pioneer work in behalf of the league that he does not 
allow sufficient latitude for future generations in perfecting the league. 
He should not expect to produce a perfect organism of such immense 
importance as the league of nations will be if it is a success. Time 
must cooperate with human effort in perfecting a project of this mag- 
nitude. If the United States goes to the extent of becoming a member 
of a world league, however guardedly and cautiously it may act, the 
President is essentially successful and can well afford to hand on to 
posterity the minor task of perfecting the stupendous organism he 
has founded. 

Look at the alternative: Refusal to accept the reservations 
means either another tedious and costly effort to secure unreserved 
ratification, ending in failure, or an abandonment outright of the 
treaty and the league. But this is not all. The United States is now 
a sufferer, along with other nations. It deserves something better 
than another long period of doubt, crushing taxation and unrest. 
Nine- tenths of the country's troubles are traceable to the doubts and 
hardships resulting from this ill-advised attempt to plunge the coun- 
try forever into Europe's quagmire of intrigues and wars. The people 
have shown as clearly as they could that they oppose the extreme 
plan proposed by Mr. Wilson, but are not opposed to ratification of 
the treaty after safeguarding the United States. Business is paralyzed, 
commerce with Europe is upset, the cost of living is increased by 
unnecesary taxes and industrial feuds, home enterprise is afraid to 
go forward, Congress is unable to lift off the war taxes, and the gen- 
eral irritation and demoralization afford an opportunity to the alien 
revolutionists which they have promptly seized in the hope of over- 
turning the government and wrecking the social system. 

Take the people's verdict, Mr. President! Take the treaty with 
the reservations, and let the country go forward ! 

[468] 



Tuesday, December 2, 1919 

Trustees of the People 

EXPRESSIONS of opinion in Europe on the attitude of the 
United States toward the peace treaty are quite illuminating. 
The opinions are colored according to nationality and the 
respective national interests involved. In each case the viewpoint is 
selfish, which ought not to offend Americans ; and the reflections upon 
the situation lead the commentator to speculate upon what his coun- 
try and government will do in the case of final rejection of the treaty 
by the United States. 

Entente and enemy opinion agrees upon one point — that the 
United States should by all means underwrite Europe, guarantee its 
solvency, bear its burdens, and become responsible for its stability. 
The task is not described in these words, exactly, but that is the 
meaning of the opinions. The allied journals see ruin unless the 
United States continues to furnish help and becomes the mainstay 
of the league of nations. The German papers are disappointed that 
the league of nations is imperiled and apparently about to be dis- 
carded, but they hope Germany may find some method of taking 
advantage of America's refusal to accept the treaty undiluted. The 
Germans are puzzled by the situation, and dare not comment too 
freely, for they do not yet know which way the cat will jump. If 
they exult over the decision of America to stay on this side of the 
ocean they may draw down upon themselves new and terrible allied 
pressure; and if they lay too much stress upon the need of the 
league of nations they run the risk of arousing the suspicions of 
the allies. 

Europe, friend and enemy, is selfish, and looks upon America 
solely from the viewpoint of possible advantages to be gained. The 
United States is expected to look after itself, and it does not occur 
to the Europeans that the Yankees will not protect their own inter- 
ests. Even the amazing departures from the policy of national inter- 
est with which President Wilson startled Europe are not considered 
to be permanent expressions of policy. The Europeans know that 
governments are set up among men to look after the selfish interests 
of each nation in competition with all others. They know nothing 
of an altruism that can give away national advantages, and they do 
not permit their officials to exercise such altruism. 

[469] 



TRUSTEES OF THE PEOPLE 

There is much to support their view. Is not a government a 
trustee of the people? Are not public officials in a place of trust, 
where they are dealing with property and lives and interests not their 
own? By what right can a public official give away any interest of 
his country? How can he yield any valuable point in a controversy, 
unless authorized to do so? A matter that may appear to him trifling 
or temporary may turn out to be important and permanent. His 
country is an everlasting institution, while he is as brief as a candle. 
He may be big with love of humanity, and may aspire to be a world 
benefactor, with a sweep of sympathy equal to an archangel's, but 
these emotions are individual, after all, and cannot properly be used 
as an excuse for misusing his country's interests or giving away his 
country's advantages. 

He is merely an agent, no matter how much power may have been 
confided to him momentarily. He must answer for his work. He must 
return the power to the source whence it came. In a short space, as 
nations go, he will pass on, as empty-handed as the poorest citizen. 
Then the questions will come, Has he been a faithful agent? Has he 
conserved the interests of his country? Does the government go to 
other hands with all its energies unimpaired, and all its advantages 
intact? Does the nation stand as strong as before the days of his 
stewardship? 

If these questions cannot be answered in the affirmative, there is 
no honor or glory in what any man may do for his country. The 
higher his station and the greater his authority, the greater the dis- 
credit if he does not perform the duties of his stewardship. 

For these reasons European governments are narrowly watching 
the United States. Each government is doing its best for its people, 
as it is in duty bound to do. For these reasons the men in authority 
in the United States — in the legislative, executive and judicial 
branches, in the army and navy — are in duty bound to look after the 
interests of the United States first, last, and always. The people have 
put a trust in their hands, to guard the nation and its interests. They 
are not free to do as they please with the interests, honor, territory, 
or independence of the United States. As faithful stewards they are 
bound to safeguard these things. Therefore the relations which the 
United States is about to define between itself and Europe must be 
considered from the viewpoint of America first. 



[470 



Friday, December 12, 1919 

Victors Free to Act 

IN CONSEQUENCE of the refusal of the United States to accept 
the peace arrangements made at Paris, the heads of the British, 

French and Italian governments are now in conference in London. 
The object of the conferences is to reach an agreement upon a course 
of action by the three governments. The questions calling for settle- 
ment are numerous and vitally important, and the process of settling 
them has been changed by the action of the United States. The 
London Times put the matter this way: 

"The rejection of the league of nations for an indefinite time by 
the United States has altered almost every feature in the peace settle- 
ment and altered all of them for the worse. * * * By the desire 
of President Wilson the covenant of the league of nations was made 
the cornerstone of peace. Steps were taken in the faith that America 
would ratify the arrangement concluded by the President. * * * 
Had it not been for this faith the principal allies would have taken 
quite different precautions for their own protection and for the pro- 
tection of the peace of the world." 

We doubt that all the features of the peace settlement have been 
altered for the worse by the failure of the league, even from the Euro- 
pean viewpoint. Certainly from the American viewpoint the situation 
is altered for the better, because the United States is now free from 
the threatened subjection of its will and strength to the inferior 
judgment of an international body, and can befriend Europe most 
powerfully in its own way, as it did when it stepped between France 
and death. 

There is little need for reminding Europe that it had no justifica- 
tion for reposing blind faith in the acceptance by the United States 
of anything that might be done by its representatives in Paris. Due 
warning had been given Europe that the treaty would be subject to 
the approval of the Senate. The election in November, 1918, was an 
official notice that the plans of the administration were disapproved 
so far as they had been divulged. Senators sufficient in number to 
prevent ratification of the treaty took the trouble to warn Europe that 
it must not take too much on faith. It is not the fault of the United 
States that Europe went wrong. No twist of casuistry can foist a 
"moral obligation" upon the United States in this matter. The 
Senate was not only morally free to consider the treaty without 

[4711 



VICTORS FREE TO ACT 

regard to any understandings made on faith or hope, but it was 
morally bound to scrutinize the treaty with special care, on account 
of the absence of information concerning its reason for existence. 

The United States was not and is not under any compulsion to 
take the league arrangement on faith, as Europe was. There is no 
reason known to the United States why the league should be the 
cornerstone of peace with Germany. The London Times' observation 
that "had it not been for this faith the principal allies would have 
taken quite different precautions for their own protection" is felt by 
Americans to be the pregnant truth. Much is covered by that observa- 
tion. It may be suggested that the principal allies ought to waste no 
further time by sending hope to find lost faith, but should imme- 
diately take the precautions which they had in mind when dreams 
were substituted for facts at Paris. Americans have no desire to 
interfere with France, Great Britain and Italy in any steps those 
great allies may take for their own protection and for the protection 
of the eastern hemisphere. Interference with Europe in the name of 
America, but against the will of America, is the cause of the present 
confusion and anxiety. It is Europe's right to know that this inter- 
ference as planned for a permanency in the covenant has been vetoed. 
Public opinion in the United States has overruled the plans projected 
at Paris, for two reasons as big as the two halves of the world: First, 
the United States objects to American interference in Old World 
politics; and second, the United States objects to European inter- 
ference in New World politics. 

Why should not the triumphant allies make their victory secure 
and European democracy safe? They know how to do it, and the 
United States does not. Every piece of interference by the United 
States in Old World politics was a blunder, from Fiume to Shantung. 
There are all grades of governments in the Old World, from democ- 
racies to Asiatic autocracies. The United States has no right to dic- 
tate to the peoples of the Old World what their governments shall be, 
where their frontiers shall run, how they shall frame their tariffs, or 
how they shall adjust their quarrels. Some of those peoples are not 
ready for democracy, and without universal democracy an effective 
league of nations is a dream. Autocracies have habits and indulge 
in practices which democracies cannot afford to have or practice, and 
these differences would place democracies at a disavantage in any 
league. 



[472] 



Tuesday, December 16, 1919 

Europe's Way Out 

THERE is distinct improvement in the general situation in 
Europe, upon which depends the well being of the world, includ- 
ing the United States. The allies are rapidly recovering from 
the hallucinations that attended the mythical league of nations, and 
are discovering that they have the power to make a peace of reality 
and stability based upon permanent subjection of German military 
ambitions and equally permanent cooperation among the free nations. 
The vision of a supernational and superhuman world league is pass- 
ing, as all visions pass; and the allies find the United States still the 
Atlas of the world, stronger and more self-reliant than ever. 

Germany reads the handwriting of Clemenceau and discerns that 
it is the word of fate. The German scheme of splitting the allies 
•apart by participating in the league of nations is now nothing but a 
dream. The nation that sought the world's life is now begging for 
its own, and the consideration it receives is a mixture of retribution 
from Clemenceau and justice from Lloyd George. The Germans 
hoped to the last that the league of nations would take the place of 
the victorious allies, but the hope was blasted when the United States 
destroyed the plan that would have made Germany an associate of 
France in exerting authority over nations. The Huns know they are 
beaten. They acknowledge it in their reply to Clemenceau's note. 
They will pay for their treachery in sinking their fleet. They are try- 
ing to gain a little more time, but since M. Clemenceau's rib was 
broken the old tiger's temper is short, and he is apt to bring the pro- 
ceedings to an abrupt end. There is a prospect that the protocol and 
the peace treaty will be in effect before Christmas. 

When the treaty goes into effect the action of the United States 
will be of less importance, for it will not affect that portion of the 
treaty which has teeth in it. The allies will have their grip upon 
Germany, and it will be their own fault if they permit the Huns to 
wriggle away from them. The United States may or may not ratify 
the treaty — it does not matter much — but it will not join the league 
of mations as the league was framed up at Paris. That decision 
having been made, the rest is of minor consequence. 

Europe neeeds help from the United States, not bizarre flights 
into political theory, but bread and butter, clothing, shoes, farm 
tools, seeds, lumber, steel, and all other necessities. Europe within 

[473] 



EUROPE'S WAY OUT 

a few days probably will have peace outside of Russia, and it will 
be a peace dictated and enforced solely by the victors, not partly by 
Germany's advice and consent. Thereupon Europe will be capable 
of resuming in full blast the long-delayed work of recovery. Every 
able-bodied man in Europe ought to be at productive work. Millions 
of them are idle now. The United States has a right to require proof 
that Europeans are producers before it lends them money or con- 
tributes to their immediate needs. If the Europeans think they can 
graft free food and shoes from America, while refusing to work, they 
make the greatest mistake of their lives. Americans will not refuse 
bread to honest workers while there is a loaf in this country, but they 
will not send a single loaf to Europe to sustain grafters and idlers. 

The test will come within a few weeks. Unless abundant reports 
are all in error, there is a wave of idleness throughout Europe, at 
the very hour when every man's brow should be beaded with honest 
sweat. Bankers and exporters need not talk of raising billions to 
provide necessaries to Europe so long as Europe refuses to work. 
The American people will not permit their money to be diverted in 
that fashion. Foreign exchange can drop through the basement floor 
if it must, and paralysis may overtake American exports for a season ; 
but even these misfortunes will not force working Americans to sup- 
port European labor slackers. 

There is no escape in Europe or America from the blessing of 
labor, which the ancients unfortunately regarded as a curse. Those 
who would eat must work, according to their ability. Neither by 
governments nor by private indirection can Europe fool Americans 
on this point. The springs of fellowship and generosity will be 
frozen up before winter if America discovers that cargoes are going 
to the support of idlers. On the contrary, there will be a tremendous 
outpouring of American help when the word comes that free European 
peoples have quit their war talk and their war idleness and are 
cheerily rebuilding their homes and farms. "Good luck to them all 
and a helping hand to each," will be America's message when Europe 
forgets its dreams of impossible world leagues, food without work, 
graft from America, and something for nothing. 

Europe has within herself the recuperative power of liberty. The 
nations will do marvelous things. There will be a greater Europe 
when its peoples follow the simple rule of work and heed the injunc- 
tion that must follow all wars: "Forget it!" 



[474] 



Thursday, December 18, 1919 

France's New Plan for Safety 

WHEN the allied powers began their conferences on the subject 
of the peace settlement, France had nothing else in mind 
than the establishment of a new frontier that would insure 
her safety against any future attack by Germany. That was the 
salient feature of the European problem, for if France could be 
made safe against Germany there would be peace, and if she could 
not be made safe there would be another war. 

All the other questions depended upon the solution of that central 
problem. The Austro-Hungarian empire was gone, and therefore 
Italy was safe. The British navy was supreme, and therefore Eng- 
land was safe. Poland was free, but her safety depended upon the 
ability of France to hold Germany fast. Czecho-Slovakia was free, 
but would not be free if France were struck down. This was the 
case with the other nations that had been in the war — Roumania, 
the South Slav state, Greece, Bulgaria, Belgium and even Russia. 

Marshal Foch drew up a plan for the security of France. It made 
the Rhine the boundary between France and Germany. There was 
no doubt then, and no doubt now, that behind that frontier, with 
suitable precautions in the treaty of peace looking to the disarma- 
ment of Germany, France would be perpetually safe. Marshal Foch 
has insisted from that day to this that the frontier of France should 
be the Rhine. He holds that the old frontier of 1870 has been proved 
a vestibule for the entry into France of the murderous Germans. 
France is declared to be physically at the mercy of Germany so long 
as the frontier is not fixed at the Rhine. 

The idea of making France secure at the expense of conquered 
Germany did not harmonize with President Wilson's ideal readjust- 
ment of the world. He had in mind something quite different from 
the actualities which engrossed the mind of Marshal Foch. Mr. 
Wilson's ideal and his concrete plan were to deny the fruits of con- 
quest to the victors, and to impose upon the vanquished as few 
penalties as possible, without regard to the nature of the crime 
committed. Instead of presuming that Germans and French would 
clash again, the Wilson plan presumed that they would have no 
excuse for clashing again. Instead of establishing peace on physical 
facts the plan proposed to establish peace on psychological theories, 
which would make it to the interest of all nations to avoid war. Each 

[475] 



FRANCES NEW PLAN FOR SAFETY 

nation, in fact, was to pledge itself to fight for the integrity of all 
other nations. Thus they would all be bound in the golden chains of 
concord, and war would be no more. 

As the peace conferences developed, France discovered that she 
must choose between Foch and Wilson. One represented fact and 
the other theory. One stood for a peace riveted by iron mastery 
over a beaten foe, and the other stood for peace supported by the 
theoretical undesirability of war. In one case France herself would 
hold the keys of peace. In the other case France and Germany would 
hold the keys together. 

France endeavored with great energy, ingenuity and patience to 
work out a secure peace without throwing over either the Foch or 
the Wilson plan. The effort was a failure. After France was com- 
pelled to give up the plan for fixing her frontier at the Rhine she 
clung to the hope that the paper peace called the league of nations 
would be made effective by an armed force and a competent general 
staff capable of mastering any plots hatched by the enemy. But 
President Wilson defeated every proposal in this direction. He was 
heart and soul for the new world order, which was to abolish war by 
conference at Geneva. He saw that an armed force and a general 
staff were a presumption of future war, while the very heart of his 
plan was the presumption that there would not be any need of 
armed forces and general staffs. A successful league of nations on 
his plan would be an absurdity if armed to the teeth. He is entitled 
to credit for adhering to the logical conclusions of his plan, however 
empty of hope it left France and other nations subject to German 
attack. 

Now the question that confronts Americans is: Do they wish to 
deny to France any protection at all, or do they favor some action, 
even at this late day, which will insure to France absolute safety 
against another German onslaught? Put in this form, few Americans 
would choose the first alternative. The country is not so confused 
by the ins and outs of treaty discussions as to wish insecurity for 
France. Therefore, if the question could be presented in form for 
execution of a plan, Americans would gladly assist France to rivet 
her glorious victory over Germany. 

No tangible plan has yet been presented as a substitute for the 
ill-fated league of nations. France is busy, however, and a plan will 
surely be evolved. The enlightened minds and heroic hearts of France 
do not intend to see the sacrifices of their country squandered in mere 
dissipation of victory without safety and, perhaps, without peace. 

[476] 



Tuesday, December 23, 1919 
The Honor of the Navy 

CONGRESS must now come to the rescue of the honor and effi- 
ciency of the United States Navy. The present Secretary, Mr. 
Josephus Daniels, has succeeded in inflicting a series of well- 
nigh deadly blows, which have so demoralized the rank and file that 
the navy is in grave danger. Its honor is besmirched and its efficiency 
impaired. Admiral Sims' refusal to accept the distinguished service 
medal, on account of the injustice which has been done to gallant 
officers under his command, brings the question of mismanagement 
of the Navy Department to the attention of Congress in such manner 
that it cannot be ignored with decency or safety. 

Mr. Daniels began the administration of the Navy Department 
with the good will of the service and the public. He has not encoun- 
tered any opposition except that which he has created himself. If 
the naval officers are in a state of deep resentment and revolt it is not 
their fault. The public is disgusted with the navy's mismanagement 
and angered because of the denial of justice to brave officers while 
personal favorites are decorated with the honors that belong to 
others. It is not the fault of the public that affairs in the navy have 
gone from bad to worse. The people gladly support all appropria- 
tions for the navy, and are thrilled with pride when they review its 
record in all the wars. The public willingly gave Mr. Daniels credit 
for all he accomplished during the recent war, and for much that he 
did not accomplish. There has not been any disposition to do any- 
thing more than smile at Mr. Daniels' vagaries, so long as they merely 
exhibited his odd unfitness for his place and did not injure the serv- 
ice. But now the situation has taken a sinister turn for the worse. 

What is to be thought of a department head who overturns facts 
and justice and substitutes falsehood and injustice in the award of 
medals for distinguished service during the war against Germany? 
It is a peculiarly injurious offense against decency and justice. It 
strikes at the navy's honor — an act that no one ever dreamed would 
or could be committed by Josephus Daniels or any other Secretary of 
the Navy. The navy's honor is in his keeping. He is the last man in 
the United States who should tarnish it. His chief duty is to main- 
tain the navy's honor, without which there can be no navy. 

Naval officers are taught from first to last to cherish the honor of 
the service. Throughout the glorious history of the navy, the pur- 

[4771 



THE HONOR OF THE NAVY 

suit of honor has been the inspiration of heroic deeds, now famous 
throughout the world. The honors bestowed by this nation upon its 
naval defenders have been until this hour the reward above all others 
for which men have given their lives, well knowing that these honors 
were unpurchasable by favoritism and unattainable by the unde- 
serving. 

But now — what a change! The choice honor provided by Con- 
gress and entrusted to the Secretary of the Navy for bestowal upon 
those who have honored their country by distinguished service is now 
made an instrument of malice and favoritism, so that the badge 
becomes a token of dishonor in the eyes of gallant officers and is 
prized only by the incompetent and the undeserving! 

Who is the naval officer who will wear a distinguished service 
medal bestowed by Josephus Daniels? How will he explain his posses- 
sion of the dishonored symbol of honor? Will he take pains to say 
that he is in fact a hero who, by some mistake of the Secretary of the 
Navy, was permitted to have a medal? Or will he wink and nod and 
whisper eagerly that he has a pull with the Secretary of the Navy 
and can get "honor" by the graft of favoritism or sectionalism? 

No individual of either of these types has ever worn the uniform 
of the United States Navy. Hence there will be no such shameful 
exhibition of dishonored badges purporting to express the gratitude 
of the United States for gallant service. 

The President cannot be expected to attend to this scandal. 
Unfortunately it has occurred during his severe illness, and advantage 
has been taken of his condition to put through the plan without his 
knowledge. The matter is one that calls for the instant action of 
Congress. Let the Secretary of the Navy and the board of awards be 
called forthwith. Let the facts be ascertained and published, in 
order that the people may know where honor and dishonor lie. 



[478 



Monday, December 29, 1919 

Two Delicate Points 

IF IT is Mr. Lloyd George's desire to see the peace treaty ratified 
by the United States he is promoting the cause in an odd manner 

by provoking opposition in this country on two very delicate 
points. He defends the six votes of the British empire as against the 
single vote of the United States, and he ascribes the controversy over 
the treaty in this country to "the folly of party warfare." 

The right of Australia to vote in the league of nations, said Mr. 
Lloyd George, was equal to the right of the United States, as Aus- 
tralia had lost as many men as the United States in the war. But, 
he added, Australia's vote would not be used in any question raised 
between Great Britain and the United States. This does not meet 
the situation at all. In an} 7 controversy between the United States 
and another nation, except Great Britain, the British empire would 
be entitled to cast six votes and the United States no vote. Thus, in 
any dispute to which the United States was a party, and England not 
a party, the British empire would probably determine the decision. 
This matter has been thoroughly thrashed out in the Senate, and a 
barrier has been raised against unequal voting in the league, which 
no man and no nation can tear down. The effect of Mr. Lloyd 
George's argument on this point will be to stiffen the opposition of 
Americans to the league of nations. 

In the matter of American opposition to the treaty, Mr. Lloyd 
George adopts the hasty and erroneous opinion that party politics 
is behind it. This view doubtless has been accepted throughout 
Europe on account of President Wilson's frequent intimations that 
partisanship inspires the critics of the league of nations. Mr. Lloyd 
George ought to be too well informed to be misguided in this matter. 
He could have ascertained the facts at any moment by consulting 
the distinguished British envoy to Washington. Doubtless the facts 
have been reported to London in detail. 

Partisanship is not at the bottom of the opposition to the peace 
treaty and the league of nations. No one who has given even super- 
ficial attention to the subject is unaware of the embarrassment of 
those Democratic senators who are opposed to certain features of 
the treaty and the league covenant, but who have contrived to avoid 
an open clash with their party leader. These Democrats have not 
felt free to vote according to their individual judgment, inasmuch 

[481] 



TWO DELICATE POINTS 

as the treaty and league are the handiwork of the Democratic party's 
titular leader. For party reasons only they have remained silent and 
voted as desired by the President. If that be partisanship it is favor- 
able to the treaty. 

Other Democrats, not being able to agree with the President in 
this all-important matter, have not hesitated to vote for reservations 
which are calculated to safeguard the United States. Their votes 
were cast against the advice of their party colleagues, who insisted 
that the party would be irretrievably damaged if the crowning work 
of President Wilson should be discredited. 

The Republicans of the Senate have not been under any party 
leader's dictation. They are not concerned in the partisan success of 
the White House occupant. The treaty and covenant do not represent 
to them a program which must be accepted for fear of party reverses. 
Therefore, the Republican senators have been free to deal with the 
treaty and covenant without any regard, whatever, for party consid- 
erations. Aided by the independent Democrats, these Republicans 
have formulated reservations which harmonize the treaty with the 
Constitution and enable the United States to ratify the pact without 
doing violence to its traditions and laws. The reservations are as 
Democratic as they are Republican in language and spirit. They are, 
in fact, American, without the slightest hint of partisanship. They 
assert the doctrines that have been supported by all great Democrats 
and all great Republicans since the foundation of the republic. 

If there is any partisanship in connection with the treaty con- 
troversy in the Senate it lies in the determination and effort of the 
titular leader of the Democratic party to force through a treaty 
framed by partisans, in secret, and regarding which information is 
denied to the Senate. The purpose of this move, if it is a partisan 
move, is to compel all non-Democratic senators to accept the Demo- 
cratic leader's plan for a league of nations by directing against 
them the charge that they are delaying peace in Europe, prolonging 
the horrors of war and breaking the heart of the world in insisting 
upon Americanizing the treaty. The latest expression from President 
Wilson, in plain words, holds the Republican leaders responsible for 
the treaty situation, although the Republican leaders do not constitute 
a minority sufficient to prevent ratification of the treaty without 
reservation. If the Republican leaders were the only obstacle the 
treaty would have been ratified long ago. 



[482] 



Tuesday, December 80, 1919 

Why America Halts 

PROVIDENCE has ordained that the United States should falter 
at the hour when the world most needs American courage and 
material assistance. This nation at the end of 1919 floats and 
rolls idly, like a steamship stopped in midocean. The millions of 
Mexico and Europe cry for help, and there is no help. The questions 
that call for adjustment are still unsettled. Other nations, whose 
plans depend upon cooperation with the United States, are unable 
to act. The British Ambassador, one of the foremost figures of the 
world, whose counsel with the United States might be of untold 
service, leaves Washington today after a patient but fruitless sojourn, 
and all he can take home is a report of America's present inability to 
function as one of the world powers. Other ambassadors are here 
with nothing to do. The diplomatic corps is a superfluity. The 
United States ignores its foreign business, and refuses to concern 
itself with foreign emergencies. 

Much of the inability of the United States government to deal 
with foreign questions is attributed to President Wilson's illness, but 
this factor is emphasized unduly in proportion to the controlling fac- 
tor, which is the failure of the Paris conference. If the Paris confer- 
ence had fashioned a treaty actually accomplishing both peace and 
justice, the United States would not now be a derelict, but, notwith- 
standing the President's illness, would be cooperating heartily with all 
nations in binding up the world's wounds and attending to its widows 
and orphans. It is not through any lack of sympathy that Americans 
do not rush to the aid of the millions who suffer from German and 
Austrian savagery. 

Time must always be the test of important undertakings. By 
this test, within less than one brief year, the Paris peace conference 
is proved to be the most mournful failure in the history of statecraft. 
It had every opportunity to succeed, and no excuse for failure. The 
mightiest nations, fresh from victory, gave to its delegates the author- 
ity of life and death over empires. There has never been a tribunal 
set up by human beings which possessed such extensive power as that 
which was exerted and misdirected by the Paris conference. 

The United States was gladly given first place at this world con- 
ference. This country had just given proof of its clear sight, its 
ability to act, and its possession of the sinews of war. The nations 

[483] 



WHY AMERICA HALTS 

naturally presumed that a country which had so successfully directed 
its energies in war would also be possessed of clear sight, the ability 
to act, and the other sinews of peace. This country had acted as one 
man during the war, and the nations did not imagine that it would 
fail to be a unit in making peace. 

Several reasons have been advanced for the failure of the United 
States to support the work at Paris. One reason set forth is that 
the American delegates were partisans, led by a partisan who rigidly 
excluded from the delegation all representatives of other parties, 
and thereby laid the foundation of the opposition that developed in 
the Senate. But this mistake alone would not have prevented ratifi- 
cation of the treaty if the treaty had been a genuine and just settle- 
ment of the war. The chief reason for the failure to ratify the treaty 
is to be found not in Washington, but in Paris, in the peace confer- 
ence itself. 

Had the Paris conference dealt in actualities and provided against 
real and not theoretical dangers, there would not now be torpor in the 
United States and unmitigated misery throughout Europe. By this 
time the United States would have amassed enough of its resources to 
carry Europe over the abyss, and Europe would now be cheerfully 
active in rebuilding, instead of standing benumbed and starving. The 
Paris conference dealt with a myth and not with facts. It imagined 
that the world needed an assurance that the nations would not go 
to war, when the truth was that the only nations bent upon war 
had been disabled and could be kept powerless with ease. Instead of 
requiring the peace-loving and free nations to give mutual pledges 
that they would not slay one another, the Paris conference should have 
been forging the shackles upon the warlike nations and making some 
plan to keep democracy safe from bolshevism. This was not done. 
The imaginary and not the real was taken as the basis of action. 
Hence the warlike nations were not fully mastered; no plan whatever 
was made against bolshevism, and the only outcome was a scheme 
dealing with an unreality — that is, a scheme to prevent free nations 
from becoming like Germany, something that never would happen in 
any event. 

The failure of the victorious nations, led by the United States, 
to establish an actual and just peace — that is the real reason for the 
aimlessness and incertitude of the United States in dealing with other 
nations. This virtual paralysis must persist, necessarily, so long as 
the government of the United States mistakes the unreal for the real. 



[484] 



Thursday, January 1, 1920 

What the New Year Sees 

THOSE who wish to gaze backward across 1919 are at liberty 
to do so, but they could be in better business. They will not 
find anything profitable in the rubbish heap. Their spirits will 
derive no benefit of energy, reassurance or hope by moping over the 
failures of 1919. The year that died last night was promising as a 
youngster, but it fell among pharisees, bolsheviki and other bad 
companions; and, going from bad to worse, it wound up in a wood 
alcohol debauch. So let it pass! 

It is the year 1920 that concerns us. Now, here is a year that is 
worth while. It has credit, and that is something the world needs. 
It has its life before it, with youthful vigor, fresh muscles, untroubled 
sleep and boundless hope. If it will guard against sundry subtle 
hereditary weaknesses and study early to distinguish between faithful 
friend and flattering foe it can make a glorious career, and contribute 
marvelously to the welfare of mankind. 

The new year sees two hemispheres in distinct colors today. 
The eastern half of the world is smoky black and the western half- 
is a lustrous rainbow. There is hard work ahead for the new year 
in the East. The criminal needy must be kept from snatching food 
from the mouths of the worthy needy. All the nations lately at war 
are in bad shape, but they retain their character even in misery. The 
enemy is the enemy still, and the friend is still the friend. Next to 
the crowning blunder of 1919 the greatest disasters of that year were 
caused by the failure of those in authority to treat enemies as enemies 
and friends as friends. 

Germany and Russia are the nations that require closest watching 
and keenest discrimination on the part of the free governments. The 
strongest Germans are the most deadly to other peoples. These strong 
characters are in the background, feverishly at work utilizing the 
troubled conditions of the world for the advantage of Germany. They 
are maneuvering in Russia, Hungary, Austria, Czecho-Slovakia, 
Poland and Italy, to say nothing of the little victimized "nations" 
that think they can break away from Russia and yet escape the maw 
of Germany. 

In Russia the Germans are intriguing with the bolsheviki, and 
egging them on to demand the lifting of the blockade. This, if 
granted by the allies, would work immediately to the great advantage 

[485] 



WHAT THE NEW YEAR SEES 

of the Germans and the bolsheviki by facilitating the exchange of 
German manufactures for Russian raw materials. In Hungary the 
Germans are stirring up the movement for the restoration of the 
monarchy, to serve as a nucleus for a monarchist reaction throughout 
middle Europe. The Magyars and the Huns understand one another 
perfectly, and the allies have shown that they do not fully understand 
either one. 

In Austria the Germans are conducting a propaganda for union 
with Germany, and the allies actually manifest a disposition to accede 
to the plan. This would enlarge the bounds and strength of the 
German war machine created by Bismarck, and which is intact, 
although it was the duty of the Paris conference to smash it. In 
Czecho-Slovakia the Germans are trying to nullify the good work of 
President Masaryk, but fortunately with no success. In Poland the 
enemy is attempting to fan the hatred of the Poles and the Jews, in 
order to deny to both these peoples the opportunity to set up a 
stable free government of their own. In Italy the Germans are incul- 
cating bolshevism and a hatred of the allies. So the enemy is active 
everywhere. 

The New World is free, peaceful and prosperous. The single 
exception is Mexico, which is utterly neglected by the United States. 
One-tenth of the sympathy and self-sacrifice expended by Americans 
toward the sufferers of the Old World, if directed to the aid of the 
Mexicans, would do all that is necessary. 

The brightest spot on the globe is the United States. It is more 
blest than ever, and some of its inhabitants acknowledge their bless- 
ings by the meanest, most ungrateful, quarrelsome, disloyal, hoggish 
conduct that could be imagined. There are Americans among these 
ingrates, too; not all of them are stunted aliens. The number of 
crack-brained philosophers who have improvements upon truth was 
never greater, and their schemes for precipitating the millennium 
by eliminating human nature were never more ingenious. This mass 
of nonsense and folly is the output of war-shaken brains, and it will 
disappear in due time, leaving truth, honor and intelligence unhurt. 
The Constitution sustains the government. The crack-brains do not 
know the Constitution, and the Constitution returns the compliment. 

The United States has shaken off the trammels of the league of 
nations, that formless birth of error and unreality. The action of 
the United States in avoiding this danger was the sanest and most 
beneficial act of the year 1919. 



[486 



Friday, January 2, 1920 

German Hope in the League 

AMERICANS who still cling to the idea that the league of 
J^± nations, framed at Paris, is the right method of reaching and 
holding peace and justice would do well to consider the plan 
from the enemy's standpoint. A glance at the New Year's greetings 
of certain German leaders will be of assistance. Gustave Bauer, 
chancellor of the "imperial republic" of Germany, does not refer 
to the league of nations, but he furnishes valuable insight into the 
Hun mind by giving notice that if the allies press "ruthlessly" the 
demand for Germans to be tried for war crimes, "it may turn Ger- 
many into another chaos of internal strife, even civil war." The 
chancellor thus tells the world that Germany does not intend to 
observe the treaty faithfully. 

With this Hun attitude toward the treaty well in mind, let us see 
what Foreign Minister Mueller, a socialist, has to say: 

"The German government will do everything in its power to live 
up to the treaty until our opponents themselves agree to rescind its 
most objectionable clauses or until the league of nations takes the 
revision of the treaty in hand. This is one of the chief reasons why 
henceforth the league of nations idea must be the basic principle of 
our conduct of foreign affairs." 

Ponder these words, Americans. Get the full meaning and intent 
of the German government and people. Then, having ascertained 
what the enemy desires, ask yourselves if it is what you desire also. 

Germany will live up to the treaty (unless the allies actually try 
to punish Germans guilty of crime), but Germany hopes that the 
allies themselves will rescind the objectionable parts of the treaty, 
such as punishment of crime, exaction of indemnity, scrutiny of 
Germany's fresh war plans, &c. Better than the hope of allied 
mercy, however, is the opportunity offered by the league of nations 
for breaking down the peace treaty. "Until the league takes the 
revision of the treaty in hand" means that Germany takes President 
Wilson at his word and will demand membership in the league. 
Having been admitted (and how could a world league exclude a 
leading nation?) Germany would exercise her right to bring up the 
objectionable peace treaty as a matter threatening the peace of the 
world. The league could not refuse to reconsider the treaty. From 
that moment the whole matter would be reopened, and, necessarily, 

[487] 



GERMAN HOPE IN THE LEAGUE 

France, England and the others would be forced to suspend execution 
of the treaty pending its revision by the league of nations. 

Do not forget that President Wilson and Premier Lloyd George 
have assured Germany of early membership in the league of nations. 
Do not fail to read the article of the covenant which gives Germany 
the right to demand revision of the peace treaty. Take note that 
the league is bound to open the question upon Germany's demand. 

Thus there is opened before Americans this proposal: That 
there shall be a league of nations with power to control the foreign 
relations of all nations; that America and Germany shall be equal 
members of this league; that upon the admission of Germany there 
shall be a revision of the Versailles treaty, with a view to rescinding 
provisions which Germany declares to be objectionable; that if the 
league should decide against Germany in these matters, they could 
be brought up again and again by Germany as a matter of right; 
that the execution of the peace treaty would be suspended pending 
the revision of the terms, thus enabling Germany to postpone indefi- 
nitely, for years, the execution of the obligations imposed upon her; 
that while Germany would thus escape from the treaty penalties, she 
would have the veto power over any other proposal offered in the 
league for disarmament, abolition of secret treaties, erection of a 
world court, &c, and would also have a vote against the United States 
in all questions arising under the Monroe doctrine, against which the 
United States might make an issue. 

"My hope is in the league of nations," says Gustave Noske, Ger- 
man minister of national defense, echoing the sentiments of the 
chancellor. As the covenant was framed, Germans do well to place 
their hope in it, but they reckon without the United States, which 
stands between them and their hope of escaping from the treaty 
penalties. The United States has refused to accept the covenant as 
drawn up. It will not reverse or modify that decision. The result 
of this refusal is to take the heart out of the covenant as a means 
of assisting Germany to escape. This aspect of the treaty contro- 
versy in the Senate is not quite fully appreciated in Germany or else- 
where in Europe, or even in the United States. As it becomes better 
understood, the free governments of the world will thank the Senate 
for smashing the organism by which Germany was to make her escape. 

The talk of a compromise in the Senate, which may revive the 
covenant of the league of nations, is idle talk. The year 1920 will 
see many present supporters of the league converted into its strongest 
opponents. 

[488] 



Monday, January 5, 1920 

League of Xations Finance 

THE Senate would do well to investigate the financial ramifica- 
tions of the proposed league of nations before committing the 
United States to membership in the league, even in a qualified 
manner. The covenant is so obscure and ambiguous that it is impos- 
sible to estimate in advance just how far the United States might 
be committed in financial matters. The extent of the league's power 
to regulate and control international commerce and finance has never 
yet been explained. 

One of the leading economists of Great Britain, Sir George Paish, 
is now in the United States for the purpose of developing a plan for 
financing Europe. He has made the suggestion that all the members 
of the league of nations pool their credits and promote an international 
bond issue. The amount of money required, he thinks, is $35,000.- 
000.000, of which Great Britain is ready to subscribe possibly $5,000,- 
000.000. The amount which the United States should subscribe ''must 
be a matter of negotiation." 

In connection with Sir George Paish's plan, it should be borne in 
mind that a well-defined plan has been developed in France, looking to 
a readjustment of all the war debts on the theory that all the allied 
and associated nations were fighting for their common defense and, 
therefore, should share proportionately all the expenses of the war, 
from first to last. So eminent and influential a Frenchman as M. 
Ribot, former premier, broached this plan recently in the chamber 
of deputies. 

There is nothing in the covenant of the league of nations which 
bars the council from redistributing the war debts of the allies. It 
does not appear that there is anything prohibiting a league of nations 
bond issue on the lines suggested by Sir George Paish. Is it not 
possible, then, that if the United States should join the league it 
would find itself "morally obligated" to join in a vast loan scheme 
in which America's wealth would be mortgaged for the benefit of 
other nations? Would not the United States also be compelled to 
agree to a readjustment of war debts whereby S100.000. 000.000 or more 
of the debts would be saddled upon this country? As this country is 
populous and rich, it would necessarily earn* the heavy end of the 
burden. The total war debt of all the "allies is over S300.000.000.000. 
and the United States possesses more than one-third of all the credit 

[489] 



LEAGUE OF NATIONS FINANCE 

and wealth of the allies. Therefore, it could not properly refuse to 
carry one-third of the burden, once it had assumed the "moral obliga- 
tions" hidden in the entangling provisions of the covenant. 

The testimony of incompetence and ruinous selfishness on the 
part of many European nations is too respectable to be ignored. The 
nations are not capable of satisfactory cooperation at this time. They 
are suspicious of one another, and do not hesitate to resort to destruc- 
tive methods in dealing with one another. Since they are all in the 
same boat, any advantage seized by one becomes a disadvantage to 
it; but they are so hard-pressed, so desperate and so far off their 
equilibrium that they do not perceive this fact. Nevertheless, it is 
true, and it furnishes the worst possible basis for an ideal, unselfish, 
perfectly cooperating league of nations. 

As the present disordered temper of the European nations fur- 
nishes the worst possible basis for a cooperative world league, it 
follows that the present is the worst possible time for initiating such 
a league. Europe was never less happily suited to the contemplation 
of the ideal. It was never less tranquil, well fed, orderly and pros- 
perous, all of which it should be before taking up such a far-reaching 
scheme as a world league of nations. Europe is distracted by terrible 
experiences, suffering from hunger and cold, racked by debt and 
threatened with wild revolutions. The nations there need anything 
but political experiments. They need food, clothes, shoes and other 
material supplies. The league of nations would be used by each of 
them, if possible, as a means of securing the necessities of life, at any 
cost. If the league could be directed against the United States, to 
extort from this country its food, credit and wealth, we may be sure 
the council at Geneva would work feverishly to that end. Sir George 
Paish and M. Ribot may not be speaking for anybody except them- 
selves, but they have thrown out suggestions which illustrate the ugly 
possibilities of the league of nations. 

It is commonly assumed that the Lodge reservations remove all 
danger to the United States which might be lurking in the covenant 
of the league. We think this assumption is a mistake. There are 
matters not covered by the Lodge reservations which should be 
carefully investigated by the Senate. 



[490 



Sunday, January 11, 1920 
A Message to France 

THE people of Europe are forming a most unfavorable and mis- 
taken attitude toward the United States on account of their 
inability to understand that President Wilson is not the Amer- 
ican government. The people of France, especially, are forming a 
false impression of Americans, for France yielded her plans for 
security at the urgent request of President Wilson, and accepted as a 
substitute the proposed league of nations and the proposed treaty of 
alliance. Paris was filled with the fame of Wilson. No one seemed 
to question his dominance over the American government. He had 
repeatedly brought Congress to heel. He seemed to have final author- 
ity and did not make plain to France that his proposals were con- 
tingent upon the approval of the Senate. To all intents and purposes, 
Wilson was the United States in the eyes of France. 

The discovery that Mr. Wilson is not able to make good the bar- 
gain he forced through at Paris is having a most prejudicial effect 
upon French public opinion, which should not be permitted to harden 
into a fixed misapprehension. Americans have not refused to do 
their duty toward France, and have not failed in friendship. They 
still remain at heart the loyal friends of France, and, if necessary, 
they would again take up arms and fight on her side. No treaty is 
required to instill this friendship for France in the hearts of Amer- 
icans or to pledge them to protect France against destruction at the 
hands of Germany. A treaty without America's friendship behind 
it would be unreliable, but America's friendship without a treaty 
behind it was reliable enough to send a conquering army across the 
Atlantic. 

These facts should be made known to Frenchmen without delay. 
In order to appreciate the importance of making America's position 
clear, let the American reader reverse the situation and imagine 
the United States living alongside a remorseless military power over 
50 per cent more populous than the United States, a deadly enemy 
of this country, and but lately thrust out of this country by the aid 
of a friend from overseas. Let the American imagine an American 
field marshal, chief of all the armies, suggesting as a plan of future 
safety the readjustment of the frontier so that the enemy could not 
rush through an unprotected door, as he had done in 1870 and 1914, 
thus proving that the boundary was unprotected. 

[4911 



A MESSAGE TO FRANCE 

This American plan for protecting America is feasible, acceptable 
and effective; but suddenly the president of the overseas republic 
appears and insists that this plan shall be abandoned in favor of 
his scheme for a new world system whereby nations will not be 
able to make war any more. He announces that the nation which 
had just saved America demands his scheme, and that he dares not 
return without America's acceptance of it. He proves to be so in- 
sistent that a rupture of friendly relations is threatened unless 
America yields. It is necessary to hold the friendship of his nation, 
which possesses the wealth, strength and materials which America 
must rely upon during her convalescence from well-nigh mortal 
wounds. 

Then imagine that the United States reluctantly rejects the 
reality of military security and accepts the unreality of a proposed 
new world system, on condition that the overseas nation enter into 
a treaty of alliance guaranteeing its assistance in case of another 
assault from the enemy neighbor. This is agreed to. The papers 
are signed, and the foreign president returns to his country. There- 
upon, his countrymen object to the plans which he proposed, and 
insist upon modification or rejection of them. He speaks of the 
good faith of the nation having been pledged to America, and even 
announces that he would give up his life rather than see his plan 
fail. Yet the fact remains that he was not authorized to make the 
pledges in question, and was morally bound to advise America to 
that effect. The treaty-making power of his government, it appears, 
is divided between himself and the Senate. The Senate refuses to 
consent to his plan, and will not even discuss the treaty of alliance. 

What would Americans think of such a situation? Would they 
not be strongly inclined to include all branches of the foreign gov- 
ernment in their condemnation? Their disappointment would hardly 
be satisfied with denouncing the foreign president for imposing upon 
them his impracticable and unauthorized scheme. The ignorant 
Americans would surely denounce the entire people. A demand would 
be made for adoption of the field marshal's plan of security, without 
regard to the wishes of the nation that had disappointed them. 

The fact that the league of nations plan, as forced through at 
Paris, does not fit the structure of the United States and is antago- 
nistic to the principles and traditions of this republic should be made 
known to all Frenchmen. But more than this: All Frenchmen 
should be informed that the failure of the Paris plan has nothing 
to do with American friendship for France. 

[492] 



Monday, January 12, 1920 

The Power to Veto Peace 

THE Constitution provides a way to enact laws despite the veto 
of the President. But there is no way to make a treaty against 
the veto of the President. If there should be in the White 
House a President who did not wish to make peace after his treaty 
had been changed by the Senate, it might happen that the United 
States would be unable to reach a state of peace, except on terms 
laid down by a single individual, and in defiance of Congress. There 
might be a President so wedded to his own plan, so entangled by 
promises to foreign governments or so jealous of the rights of the 
Senate that he would refuse to exchange ratifications of a peace 
treaty if the Senate had made reservations in behalf of this nation. 
The reservations might be desirable and warmly approved by the 
people, but such a President could say, "I do not accept the action 
of the Senate as the will of the people, and I refuse to approve of 
the Senate's work." He would be within his constitutional powers 
and could not be compelled to exchange ratifications of the treaty. 

By a two-thirds vote Congress can repass a bill over a President's 
veto and it becomes law. The same provision should be made in case 
of a treaty, after it has been approved by the Senate by the required 
two-thirds vote. Having reached that stage, it should not be pigeon- 
holed by the President, and he should not have the power to pigeon- 
hole it. If he should refuse to proceed with exchange of ratifications, 
Congress should have power to make the treaty effective by a two- 
thirds vote, as in case of a vetoed bill. A treaty is a law, and so far 
as it affects American citizens it is nothing but a law. Congress can 
abrogate a treaty by passing a law, with or without the President's 
consent, and this has been done several times. If a treaty and a law 
are in conflict the Supreme Court takes the last expression as the 
law, whether it be the treaty or a simple act of Congress. 

It is conceivable that a President of the United States might be 
elected who would misuse his power to pigeon-hole a peace treaty, 
and thus keep the nation in a state of war. A treaty is a contract 
between nations, and usually a peace treaty is a complicated bar- 
gain, the making of which required confidential exchanges between 
the parties, often leading to the making of secret pledges which must 
be kept from the knowledge of the people. In such a case the com- 
pleted draft is apt to conceal as much as it reveals. It is also apt 

[493] 



THE POWER TO VETO PEACE 



to be obscure, ambiguous, or even purposely misleading on important 
matters which have been disposed of secretly, or which are to be 
handled privately by the governments, in a manner which would 
arouse antagonism, or even war, if known to the people. In that 
case the Senate would demand information, and would not obtain it, 
or it would learn something indirectly which would cause it to make 
amendments or reservations, for the sake of national security. 

Quite conceivably, amendments or reservations to a peace treaty 
would seem to be simple on their face, and obviously unobjection- 
able, and yet they might vitally affect the pledges or commitments 
which a President had made privately to foreign governments. The 
ambiguous language of the treaty might be so changed that, instead 
of permitting a President to fulfill secret pledges, it would disrupt the 
entire series of private understandings which had shaped the treaty. 
He would then be faced with the alternative of breaking his private 
agreements with foreign governments or pigeon-holing the treaty, 
notwithstanding his previous advocacy of it. He would possibly 
be able to convince some of his countrymen that the Senate's altera- 
tions had nullified the treaty, in which case he would have specious 
grounds for refusing to proceed with ratification; but, on the other 
hand, the people would probably insist upon ratification because of 
th,eir anxiety to terminate the war. A stubborn President, however, 
could go to the end of his term without exchanging ratifications, not- 
withstanding the clamor of the people. Thus he could prove to foreign 
governments his own personal good faith in endeavoring to secure 
ratification by the United States of a treaty with all its private im- 
plications and understandings unaffected by reservations or amend- 
ments. 

The present controversy over the treaty of Versailles has been 
valuable in bringing out the defect in the treaty-making power which 
is herein described. The truth is that the treaty-making power is 
not equally divided between the President and the Senate, since the 
President has an absolute veto. This lacuna should not be permitted 
to exist, for the reason that peace is usually reached by means of 
treaties, and it is unwise to leave to one man the power to continue 
a state of war against the will of the people and Congress. 

Congress can declare war with or without the President's con- 
sent, but it cannot make peace by treaty without the President's 
consent. Surely, if the Constitution makers found it desirable to 
empower Congress to overrule the President in making war it would 
seem desirable that Congress should have power to overrule him in 
making peace by a treaty which he himself would have submitted. 

[494] 



Tuesday, January 13, 1920 

No Compromise on Americanism 

THE most persistent and skillful efforts have been made for 
months to convince Americans that the welfare of the United 
States and Europe was bound up in the treaty with the Ger- 
mans. Those efforts have been successful in such measure that many 
American citizens of the most devoted patriotism are somewhat im- 
pressed by such talk as this: "There, you see the nations of Europe 
going forward with the peace treaty and the league of nations, while 
the United States hangs back with Turkey and Russia. The United 
States helped to end the war, but it becomes a slacker in the work 
of making peace." 

But such statements have no weight with those Americans who 
have studied the situation carefully and are capable of judging the 
duty of the United States as based upon its peculiar structure, its 
traditions, and its relations with Europe. The first and most impor- 
tant point to be borne in mind is that the treaty of Versailles was 
never authorized or approved by the people of the United States and 
is contrary to the policy of the United States in declaring and prose- 
cuting the war, in this respect: That while war was declared sepa- 
rately and while the United States refrained from allying itself with 
the nations arrayed against Germany, the treaty attempts to commit 
the United States to all European settlements, exactly as if this 
country had been an ally and had committed itself to all the allied 
treaties and agreements. 

There was no authority, no excuse and no necessity for making 
the United States a party to the settlements in Europe. The United 
States went to war for a specific purpose, and throughout the war it 
scrupulously refrained from entangling itself in the engagements of 
the allies. President Wilson was so consistent and precise in dis- 
tinguishing the relations between this government and the allies that 
he received unmerited criticism, including criticism from this news- 
paper. He was right, and his critics were wrong. But as he was 
right in maintaining the distinction at that time, he was wrong in 
cutting away from it at Paris and attempting to make the United 
States a full fledged ally of the allies in all European political ques- 
tions, notwithstanding the fact that the United States had never 
contracted or authorized such alliance. 

It is beyond the power of a President to contract an alliance be- 

[495] 



NO COMPROMISE ON AMERICANISM 

tween this government and any other. If he attempts to make a 
treaty of alliance with Europe, which is the real nature of the treaty 
of Versailles, he invites the opposition of all Americans who cherish 
the traditions of their country as bodied forth in the Monroe doctrine 
and other American principles. If the people and the Senate approve 
of his proposal there is nothing more to be said, but until they do 
approve, it is as offensive as it is injudicious to assert that the United 
States is a slacker in the work of world peace. 

The assertion that it is the duty of the United States to ratify 
the treaty of Versailles is a gratuitous and impudent assumption 
which has no basis of justification in the history or present purpose of 
the people of this nation. There is not a shred of evidence which 
shows that the United States is bound to reverse itself and enter into 
European quarrels. On the contrary, all that has been done by the 
United States government since it declared its independence, includ- 
ing the war against Germany, has been contrary to the idea of par- 
ticipating in European politics. 

The treaty of Versailles concerns the United States very little 
and very remotely, except as to the proposed league of nations, which 
is a plan for permanently entangling the United States in European 
affairs. Aside from the league of nations covenant, the treaty can 
be executed without the United States as well or better than with it; 
and the nations concerned are proceeding to execute it. The only 
portions that affect the United States are certain provisions in section 
10 (not "Article X"), which are not of sufficient importance to con- 
sume more than a week's time in a separate adjustment between the 
United States and Germany. 

The demand for ratification of the treaty is not because of the 
peace settlements with Germany. It is because the league of nations 
will be a failure unless the United States can be drawn into Euro- 
pean politics. The statements are made that "the world will break 
down" and that "Europe will fall into chaos" and that "the little 
freed nations will be destroyed" unless the United States joins the 
league of nations. There is not a word of truth in these statements. 
They are utterly without effect upon Americans who know wherein the 
true strength of America lies as a defender of liberty. It is not in 
the entanglement of its free will that the United States is strong, 
but in its independence and unfettered freedom of decision and 
action. 



496 



Thursday, January 15, 1920 
Europe and the League 

DOUBTLESS there will be little criticism of President Wilson 
for issuing the formal call for the first meeting of the council 
of the league of nations. It is an empty formality, which 
might as well be performed by the head of a nation which has de- 
clined to accept the "covenant" as by anybody else. The matter 
of interest is the manner in which Europe is working its way out 
from under the incubus of the Paris treaty, and particularly the 
league of nations. 

It will be noticed that at the first meeting of the council Japan 
will be represented, and the United States and Greece will be absent. 
There are volumes of meaning in these two facts. It is quite possible, 
if the United States had been a true friend of China at the Paris 
conference, Japan might not have been represented in the council, 
and the United States might have been. That is a most interesting 
"might have been," whose history is not all in the past. There are 
other chapters to be written, and perhaps they will be written in the 
blood of Americans. Sufficient unto that day, however, is the evil 
thereof, and it need not be discussed here. 

But why is not Greece in the council, as the Paris synod has 
arranged? Ask the Greeks who heard from the lips of Americans 
that they need not expect to retain their own lands, but must sur- 
render them to their enemy, the Bulgars. Nobody can produce any 
authority for this notice from the Americans. They had no juris- 
diction over the Balkan regions, so far as the American voters are 
aware. The declarations of war against Germany and Austria- 
Hungary did not authorize President Wilson or any other American 
to sit in judgment between Greece and Bulgaria. The United States 
was not an ally of one or an enemy of the other, although Bulgaria 
was an enemy of the United States and an ally of Germany. 

The influence of the United States in the negotiation of the 
treaty with Bulgaria was thrown in favor of Bulgaria and against 
Greece. The Americans were interlopers. The Greeks have just as 
much right to interfere in the quarrel between the United States and 
Carranza, and to allot a portion of Texas to Carranza, as the Amer- 
icans at Paris had to allot a portion of Thrace to Bulgaria. 

The Americans at Paris not only assumed an authority they did 
not possess in regard to territorial adjustments in Europe, but they 

[497] 



EUROPE AND THE LEAGUE 

joined in the coercion of the small nations by insisting upon pro- 
visions in the treaties with Austria and Hungary, requiring the new 
nations to admit the overlordship of the "principal allied and asso- 
ciated governments" in securing the rights of minorities. This was 
nothing but a denial of the equality of nations, an encroachment 
upon the sovereignty of the small nations, and, of course, a "nulli- 
fication" of all the high-sounding pretenses of the league of nations. 
Bear in mind that the "big five" are to be the overlords of Roumania, 
Greece, Jugoslavia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Austria — not the league 
of nations, but the allied and associated governments. 

What a commentary upon the league, by its own creators! They 
do not trust it to do justice or enforce peace in Europe. If they 
did they would have placed it in control of the reparations work, 
the collection of the indemnity from Germany, the "protection of 
minorities," the reduction of fleets, &c. But no! In the realities of 
Europe and Asia the league of nations has no part. France, England, 
Japan and the others have seen to that. It is only in the realm of 
fancy, of poesy and romance that the league of nations is all-powerful. 
The nations have turned over to the league all kinds of control, 
except control over the German indemnity, the control of the seas, 
the control over small nations, and a few little items of that nature. 

Think of the United States being one of five nations to step into 
Roumania to enforce the rights of the Magyars. What a fine chance 
of ratifying such a treaty in the United States Senate! Think, also, 
of the United States as a member of the league of nations, solemnly 
discovering that it had violated its own obligation by entering into 
treaties encroaching upon the political independence of small nations ! 
What a spectacle it would be to witness the struggle of the United 
States vs. the United States, one of them the Dr. Jekyll of the league 
of nations, defender of the feeble, &c, and the other the Mr. Hyde 
of the Austrian treaty, brutally trampling upon the sovereignty of 
Roumania and scoffing at the league of nations as a humbug and a 
hypocrite ! 

It is small wonder that the victorious nations have continued the 
interallied military command under Marshal Foch, with amplified 
powers sufficient to enable it to throttle Germany, ward off bolshe- 
vism and vitalize the victory which the Paris conference emasculated 
by setting up the league of nations. 

The larger allied nations are in a military alliance for their own 
self-preservation. Good! They can now survive even the league of 
nations. 

[498] 



Wednesday, February 4, 19®0 

Viscount Grey's Plea 

THE letter of Viscount Grey to the London Times is highly cred- 
itable to that skillful diplomatist. It will bear reading more 
than twice. Indeed, it must be read and scrutinized several 
times before all its implications can be appreciated. Let it be re- 
membered that it was addressed to at least four audiences, namely, 
the British public, the American public, the United States Senate and 
President Wilson. 

By enlightening the British public regarding American sentiment 
Viscount Grey has performed useful service, and if he had done 
nothing else his sojourn in Washington would have been profitable. 
The tendency in Britain to impute unworthy motives to the United 
States ought to be checked by the admonition and information im- 
parted by Viscount Grey. 

The letter virtually notifies Americans that Great Britain will 
not object to the reservations which have been framed by the Senate 
majority. Viscount Grey's entire argument is based, of course, upon 
the assumption that the proposed league of nations is the only remedy 
for the world's present condition; that the membership of the United 
States is a necessity, and that the league, once formed, will prove 
successful in preventing wars. Thus, Viscount Grey finds no difficulty 
in accepting the reservations, provided the result is American mem- 
bership in the league. He relies upon the league itself to develop into 
what it is intended to be — the political controller of the world. His 
letter is a suggestion to President Wilson that he accept the Lodge 
reservations and hurry the ratification of the treaty in order that 
the league may be put into commission. 

In a delicately balanced statement, intended for British, British 
colonial and American consumption, Viscount Grey makes a plausi- 
ble argument in behalf of an essentially fallacious and inequitable 
plan — the granting of six British votes in the assembly of the league 
of nations. The British colonies, he says, are no longer colonies in 
the old sense, but are "free communities, independent as regards their 
own affairs, and partners in those which concern the empire at large." 

That is a true statement, and because it is true it strikes at the 
integrity of the league of nations. How can all nations be equal in 
the league, while a set of them are in a private partnership, a league 
within the league, whose interests may conflict with those of other 

[499] 



VISCOUNT GREY'S PLEA 

nations? How can Canada and the United States be on an equal 
footing in the league, while Canada enjoys "preferential tariffs" with 
all other parts of the British empire? It may be said that tariffs are 
domestic matters, but, if so, how can they be made to stretch preferen- 
tially over certain "independent" nations, to the exclusion of other 
independent nations? Such discrimination is prohibited by the cove- 
nant. If Canada is to have special British tariff privileges she cannot 
truthfully claim to be an independent nation in the sense that the 
United States is independent. In short, Canada, Australia and the 
others cannot reap the advantages of membership in one league, the 
British empire, and yet, as members of the league of nations, deny 
similar advantages to other members of the league of nations. The 
two leagues cannot be so framed as to give special advantages to 
the British league, without dooming the league of nations to early 
disruption. 

Viscount Grey glides gracefully over an obstacle which, never- 
theless, remains, and will wreck the league unless it be removed. He 
says: "As regards this right to vote where they (the colonies) are 
not parties to the dispute there can be no qualification, and there 
is very general admission that the votes of the self-governing do- 
minions would, in most cases, be found on the same side as that 
of the United States." This is an assumption on his part, and a 
contrary assumption would be equally justified. The fact is, that 
in a dispute between the United States and any foreign government 
outside of the British empire, there would be six British votes which 
might be cast solidly against the United States; and the dispute 
might concern the vital interest, honor, or even the independence 
of the United States, under the all-embracing provisions of Article XV 
of the covenant. 

Viscount Grey's ingenious and well-intentioned letter does not 
remove the dangers that confront the United States in connection 
with the proposal that it become a member of a league of nations. 
With all the reservations framed and to be framed, the United States 
will not be able to join the league and yet retain freedom of judgment 
and action. No league of nations can be effective without borrowing 
sovereign powers from the nations, just as the United States gained 
its strength at the expense of the States. The proposed league of 
nations attempts to do this borrowing by stealth, and by degrees, 
silently bleeding the nations of their vital powers, whereas the United 
States was formed by the States in broad daylight, with full knowledge 
and intent that state sovereignty should be yielded to the extent 
required. 

[ 500 ] 



Thursday, February 5, 1920 
The Wrecking of Victory 

THE evils inherent in the peace arrangement made at Paris are 
now revealing themselves, to the consternation of all free na- 
tions. The strange mixture of unreality, ignorance, greed and 
secrecy which marked the quality of allied leadership is now bringing 
forth miseries and failures. The peace that was hoped for is a 
dream. The victory over Germany has been wrecked by the allied 
politicians themselves. Germany is powerless for the time being, 
and the strongest allies have absorbed her assets and colonies, but 
there is no peace. 

The allies are demanding 800 German criminals, the most bloody 
and savage murderers that ever joined in conspiracy, but there is 
every indication that Germany will not surrender these criminals, 
although she promised in the treaty to do so. Germany is encouraged 
by the failure of the allies to press the demand for William Hohen- 
zollern. Their demand has been contemptuously refused by Holland, 
and yet the mighty victors stand halting, not daring to reach out and 
take into custody the arch criminal. How can they proceed with the 
trial of minor assassins when they lack courage to put Hohenzollern 
on trial? Is there a disposition to shield a man who wore a crown? 
Is a Hohenzollern still one of God's anointed? Free men look at the 
conduct of the allies in this matter with scorn and contempt. They 
will not recover their faith in the allied government leaders until these 
leaders do their duty in bringing Hohenzollern and all his crew before 
the bar of justice. 

The breakdown of the treaty in regard to the trial and punish- 
ment of the world's assailants is typical of other breakdowns that 
may be looked for as the attempt to execute the treaty is continued. 
What was to be expected of an arrangement that set aside realities 
and provided a phantom league as the power behind the treaty? The 
provisions for the disarmament of Germany are satisfactory, but 
along with them are provisions which make it impossible for Germany 
to pay indemnities. Yet, without indemnities from Germany, some 
of the allies cannot recover their own strength. Hence, in the realities 
of the treaty, as well as in the fabulous part relating to the league 
of nations, the Paris conference failed. There were able and well- 
informed men available at Paris, but their services were not utilized. 
Soothsayers, adventurers, international financiers, pro-bolshevists, col- 

[501] 



THE WRECKING OF VICTORY 

lege professors and briefless lawyers constituted the advisory board of 
the four wise men who produced the miracle called the treaty of 
peace. 

The United States is now denounced by Europeans as the cause 
of Europe's distress, following the failure at Paris. We appreciate 
the honest anger of Europeans and sympathize deeply with them in 
their predicament. No generous Americans are disposed to take too 
seriously the outbursts of London and Paris newspapers in condemna- 
tion of the United States, because it is well understood here that the 
allies were virtually compelled to take President Wilson at his own 
appraisal, and to accept the idea that he could and would compel his 
country, if necessary, to bend to his will in ratifying the treaty. Euro- 
peans did not understand as well as Americans that, however despotic 
President Wilson may have been in Paris, it is not possible for a 
President to be despotic in Washington without the consent of his 
countrymen. 

Europe is in a perilous position. The ratification of the treaty 
of peace will not extricate the allies, for the treaty in itself is a 
failure. It does not give strength to the allies, but, on the contrary, 
it goes far to make their early recovery difficult, if not impossible. 
It does not solve any economic problems, but, on the contrary, it 
creates difficult problems throughout Europe. It does not place con- 
trol of Germany under the league of nations, but expressly grants 
control to the reparations commission, with powers such as are usually 
possessed by a sovereign. Yet the treaty denies to the reparations 
commission the powers which would make it an effective link between 
the allies. The league of nations is set up instead, and its chief fea- 
ture is the guarantee in perpetuity of such iniquities as the Shantung 
steal and other territorial apportionments accomplished in secret 
treaties which were concealed from the knowledge of the United 
States. 

Why so much anxiety over the ratification of the treaty by the 
United States? Any American has a right to ask for light. He is 
entitled to ask for proof that the treaty is beneficial to the allies or 
the United States, or both. No one has yet produced any such proof. 
As the appalling conditions of Europe reveal themselves more and 
more clearly, Americans will understand better the completeness of 
the failure at Paris. If the Senate shall not have ratified the treaty 
before next November, it is quite possible that the American voters 
will give a mandate forbidding the government to make matters 
worse by becoming a party to the treaty. 

[502] 



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THE BATTLE OVER THE TREATY 

The Republican side, however, is not so tainted with this timidity 
as to paralyze its effectiveness. It commands the situation by stand- 
ing at the gate of ratification and requiring that the treaty shall not 
pass through without Americanizing reservations. Nothing that 
President Wilson or Viscount Grey or anybody else may say can set 
aside the controlling portion of the Senate, which insists upon Amer- 
icanization or rejection. 

Presumably, both parties will vote to bring the treaty again be- 
fore the Senate, although even this is uncertain. Should the matter 
be brought up for Senate disposition the outcome might be the re- 
adoption of the Lodge reservations and then failure to gain a two- 
thirds vote for the resolution carrying those reservations. Another 
result might be the adoption of the Lodge resolution of ratification 
with reservations. In that case President Wilson would have the 
alternative of accepting the Senate reservations or refusing to pro- 
ceed to ratification. He has said repeatedly that he will not cooperate 
in depositing reservations which would take the heart out of the treaty 
and the league, and he has characterized the Lodge reservations as 
nullifying the treaty. Hence, so far as expediting the ratification of 
the treaty is concerned, the moves about to be made by the Senate 
seem to be useless. They may prove to be far from useless, however, 
in another aspect, namely, the education of the people concerning the 
dangerous complications into which the United States would be 
plunged unless precautions at least as strong as the Lodge reservations 
were taken in the act of adhering to the treaty. 

There are millions of Americans who are not yet sufficiently 
informed in this matter to be able to perform their duty as equals of 
President Wilson, Senator Lodge, or any other citizen, in deciding 
the destiny of their country. These citizens have been inoculated 
with the idea that the league of nations, framed at Paris, and an 
effective means of preventing war are one and the same thing. 
Nothing could be further from the truth. Until the truth crowds 
out this poisonous misapprehension, there is danger that some sena- 
tors may be borne down by the weight of ignorant but well-meaning 
demands for the Wilson league of nations. Thus, it is barely pos- 
sible that the United States might trade its birthright for a mess 
of pottage, believing that it was lifting the curse of war from man- 
kind. 

But we still repose our trust in the intelligence as well as the 
patriotism of the people. We do not admit that even a large part of 
the people can be fooled all the time. 

[504 1 



Monday, February 23, 1920 

Washington's " Great Rule" 

MILLIONS of Americans turned their thoughts yesterday to 
George Washington and his admonitions against entangling 
the United States in foreign politics. Millions more will think 
of Washington today, which is set aside as a holiday in his honor. 
The Farewell Address will be read in many places, and again every 
citizen has an opportunity to ponder these words: 

"The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, 
in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little 
political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed 
engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let 
us stop. 

"Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by 
interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our 
peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, 
interest, humor or caprice? 

" Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with 
any portion of the foreign world." 

Washington's words were not addressed merely to his contem- 
poraries. He looked forward as a father to the provision for his 
children. He spoke truth, which is not temporary. He is as truly 
a contemporary of the Americans of 1920 as he was of those of 1796, 
when he uttered the foregoing "great rule of conduct." 

What do Americans find in 1920 which makes Washington's fare- 
well advice so peculiarly apt? They see the nations of Europe in 
all aspects of "ambition, rivalship, interest, humor and caprice." The 
only desire upon which Europe is unanimously agreed is that the 
United States shall be drawn into an alliance, so that the strength 
and wealth of the United States shall be at Europe's disposal. The 
weak, disabled, corrupt nations are straining every nerve to involve 
the strong, unhurt, clean-hearted nation which Washington founded. 

Washington was eager to develop the commerce of the United 
States. He favored close and friendly relations with Europe. It 
was "political connection" which he opposed. At this time the people 
of America are actually asked to establish the very "political connec- 
tion" which Washington declared would "entangle our peace and 
prosperity." Americans are asked to approve of this fatal move on 

T 505 i 



WASHINGTON'S "GREAT RULE" 

the ground that "it's the only way out," and that "Europe must have 
help." The economic and physical ills of Europe are to be cured, 
somehow, by "political connection" with the United States; and the 
threat is made that if this political connection be refused Europe will 
plunge into chaos. 

It is not true! The allied governments are destroying the value 
of the victory won by help of the Americans. The object of the fight- 
ing was to make free government safe. That object is now set aside 
by the allied politicians and another object set up. Their new object 
is: "Let each of us get such advantage as we can, by secret bar- 
gaining and by deceiving others, particularly America." 

The peoples of the allied nations are victimized by this govern- 
mental policy of the allies. The rule of secrecy in diplomacy is 
essentially treachery to the public. By means of secrecy the indi- 
viduals temporarily in office in each country acquire enormous power 
belonging to the people, which they employ in secret bartering with 
other officers wielding similar power. 

The government leaders in Europe are incorrigibly wedded to 
secrecy and intrigue. America abhors such tactics. Europe, as a 
whole, is a nest of corrupt diplomacy. America has been free from 
such dangerous undermining of the people's rights. Revelations are 
now being made which prove, beyond question, that the French gov- 
ernment is misusing the power of the people of France; that the 
British government is acting without the approval of its people and 
contrary to their interests; that the Italian, Serb-Croat and Japanese 
governments do not take their people into their confidence. Every- 
where there is a distinction between government and people, the gov- 
ernment contriving by secrecy to defraud the people of free decision 
in controlling their own affairs. 

Americans want none of this. They want no secret correspond- 
ence with foreign governments, much less any alliances with them. 
The American government is responsible to the people, whatever any 
foreign government may be. The American people would not tol- 
erate any usurpation of their power by the government, and would 
tear up any secret bargains made. The peoples of Europe should do 
the same thing. They will never have freedom until they hold their 
governments to strict account, and they need not expect America to 
waste much sympathy upon them if they do not care to make them- 
selves free. 



[506] 



Wednesday, February 25, 1920 

Self-interest of the Nations 

i i r I ^HE principal allied and associated powers/' meaning France, 
Great Britain, Italy, Japan and the United States, find it 
much more difficult to maintain harmonious relations now 
than during the war. The single overshadowing motive that held 
them together during the war is now succeeded by motives of in- 
dividual interest, which clash in many directions. The advantages 
which each nation seeks would be sought in any event, and the greater 
the freedom from entanglements the less danger there is of inflaming 
resentments to the point of war. No nation can be justly criticized for 
honorably attending to its own interests first. The duty of its gov- 
ernment heads is to protect the country's interest and honor, to con- 
serve its traditions and strengthen its defensive resources, and to 
cooperate with other governments in good works for mankind without 
being drawn into ventures which may prove injurious to the country. 
It is most interesting to observe the proceedings of the European pre- 
miers at this juncture, when the world is being remodeled and de- 
cisions are being made which will leave effects that never can be effaced. 
Each premier is doing his best for his country, as he is in duty bound 
to do, but the composite result of the conferences is anything but 
satisfactory. The conflict of interest is too strong for the most adept 
conciliators. Hence, in spite of underlying good will, the "allied and 
associated nations" are drifting apart. 

In theory the nations should be able to avoid misunderstanding 
by merely "getting together," in a little syndicate or junta, with a 
loose arrangement committing them simply to cooperation in putting 
down any nation that might make unprovoked war — in other words, 
a league of nations. In fact, the nations find it impossible to work 
together in such a syndicate, even when bound by the most fragile 
ties. The obstacle to united action is inherent in the situation, always 
evident and forever immovable. It is this: United action necessitates 
pooling of national wills. This involves a surrender of freedom of 
action which no nation will make in good faith unless it is threatened 
with the alternative of immediate death. For proof of this statement 
look at the refusal of the British government to accept a French com- 
mander-in-chief until the British army was at the point of annihila- 
tion. 

The allies accepted the league of nations because they could not 

[507] 



SELF-INTEREST OF THE NATIONS 

do otherwise. They are reducing it to shreds as rapidly as they can, 
pressed by self-interest, changing conditions and their clear knowl- 
edge that it does not meet their necessities. As they move away from 
the plan framed at Paris they bring forward one project after another 
which they had kept in the background, and all of these projects are 
inconsistent with the spirit of the ideal league of nations. The plans 
in some cases were evidently formulated months ago, while the gov- 
ernments concerned were vowing loyalty to the league. Therefore, 
the average impartial American citizen is apt to conclude that the 
European nations have intended from the first to manipulate the 
league of nations to their own ends. Behind the splendid front of 
"world service" and "abolition of war" the allies have been preparing 
to carry on secret bargaining exactly as before. 

A loose alliance holds France, Great Britain, Italy and the smaller 
allies together. Under this arrangement the small-fry nations must 
take directions from the strong powers. That is not surprising; it 
is inevitable. It is what was planned under the covenant of the 
league. Poland will be forced to make peace with the bolsheviki; so 
will Roumania. Hungary is to be permitted to set up a monarchy. 
Turkey is to be allowed to hold Constantinople. Jugoslavia is to get 
a fair exchange for valuable concessions. Italy must give way to 
her stronger allies, and France must yield important advantages to 
her stronger ally. In the last analysis Great Britain dominates the 
situation. 

If the United States should join this political group the test of 
strength would be between this nation and Great Britain. One would 
dominate and impress its will upon Europe, and would compel the 
other to yield important advantages. Which nation would prevail 
over the other? Americans have no doubt that the United States 
would prevail. But to what purpose? What would this nation gain 
by assuming leadership in European politics? 

The political maneuvers in Europe are of interest to the United 
States so long as it is not involved in them. If it should become a 
guarantor of European adjustments, that would be a different story; 
then it would insist upon full participation in the discussions. By 
the simple device of refusing to become responsible for Europe, the 
United States can help its friends, steer clear of its enemies and avoid 
endless quarrels. The question whether the United States or Great 
Britain should dominate Europe, a question that bristles with sug- 
gestions of war, will never arise if the United States decides to remain 
merely a disinterested and impartial friend of all the allies. 

[508] 



Thursday, March 4, 1920 
The Coming ^Readjustment 

THERE is talk of a loan to Germany, to enable her to resume 
activity, and thus begin indemnity payments. Evidently the 
hard business sense of the British government is making head- 
way against the feeling of the French government, which opposes 
any concessions whatever to Germany. The concessions, however, 
must be made, and the sooner they are made the better it will be for 
France, Great Britain and the United States. 

Americans will pay heavy war taxes for a period much longer 
than was expected, on account of the failure of the peace treaty to 
operate effectively in the matter of indemnities. Failure of Germany 
to pay the allies means failure of the allies to pay the United States. 
Thus American citizens are made the victims, to the extent of $10,- 
000,000,000 and interest. 

The war is to cost the United States $10,000,000,000 more than 
it should have cost. This constitutes a tax that will be felt sorely 
for a long time by every man, woman and child in the republic. 

It is idly assumed by many persons that the cost of the war can 
be evaded; that it is a matter of bookkeeping only. But this is not 
true. The debt must be paid. It cannot be disposed of by issuing 
paper money or by accepting the renewal notes of the allies. The 
debt represents consumption of materials, which were accumulated 
and transported with great expenditure of labor. In place of this 
immense accumulation of materials there is now a crater whose di- 
ameter is Europe. This crater must either be filled or Europe must 
go down to a lower level of life. It has already begun to sink, in 
fact. It would have gone immediately, at one fell swoop, but for 
the device of paper money and the happy faculty of mankind in 
fooling itself. By the use of paper money the nations have cushioned 
their descent, and have even caused their populations to mistake the 
fever of inflation for the vigor of prosperity. There is wild extrava- 
gance in Europe; gambling, buying of excessively luxurious automo- 
biles, costly wining and dining, flashing of diamonds and fraudulent 
business speculation. Wages are absurdly high, and so are prices of 
foodstuffs. The value in money is oozing out steadily as men discover 
that they have been fooling themselves. Thus the process of falling 
money values and rising prices goes on to the inevitable crash. 

If humanity does not pay for the cost of the war by economy, 

[509] 



THE COMING READJUSTMENT 

thrift and self-denial, it will pay the bill by sinking back to a scale 
of life not far above that of the Russian peasant. The mental and 
physical stature of the race will be reduced, with corresponding 
impairment of civilization. 

The relationship of Americans to the conditions in Europe is 
subtle and close. So real are war and death to the people of Europe, 
after their terrible experiences, that their natures are hardened to 
the necessity of obeying nature's first law of self-preservation. They 
would drag down America if it would save themselves. They no 
longer have scruples in such matters. Their simple plan is like that 
of a drowning man — to catch at anything or anybody. Accordingly, 
it does not strike the European as an immoral thing to suggest that 
the debt to America be wiped off, and that another loan, say of 
$4,000,000,000 be made by the United States to drag Europe from 
the pit. The suggestion that the debt shall be canceled, made in 
the same breath with a demand for another loan, is highly offensive 
to Americans, but they may as well prepare themselves for its con- 
stant reiteration. 

Of course, this agreement will not be effective unless approved by 
the Senate, and the attitude of the Senate on the treaty gives no encour- 
agement to those Europeans who were convinced that America was 
ready to sacrifice itself for Europe. 

There is no probability that the people of the United States will 
suffer from readjustment as Europeans must suffer; but there must 
be a readjustment in the United States. The money of this coun- 
try is affected by the same disease as that which is prostrating Euro- 
pean money value — inflation. There is more paper money bearing the 
stamp of the United States than the situation warrants. The value 
in money is reduced, and prices and wages are thus placed upon a 
false level, completely deluding a large proportion of the people and 
inflicting hardship upon all of them. There is extravagance here also ; 
gambling, foolish speculation, over-luxurious living and increasing 
laxity of morals. All of these symptoms of inflation warn the people 
to mend their ways. Their ways will be mended for them in due time, 
by stern law, but they can avoid some of the shock by practicing 
economy, individual and governmental, and by insisting upon con- 
traction of the currency. 

What role America will play as the rich uncle of Europe remains 
to be seen. Some help ought to be given, for selfish reasons if for 
no other. But it would be suicidal to leap into the whirlpool to save 
the drowning man. 

[510] 



Sunday, March 7, 1920 

The Founder of a Republic 

THIS DAY has been made a holiday by the Czecho-Slovak repub- 
lic, and there is reason to believe that it will be celebrated here- 
after in perpetuity. It is the anniversary of the birth of 
Thomas G. Masaryk, first president of the republic, who has reached 
the age of 70 years, and who, blessed with health and strength, is 
completing the structure of the free government he has done so 
much to establish. The singularity of his standing among modern 
state-builders, and the resemblance of his career to that of George 
Washington, make him a peculiarly interesting figure to Americans. 

The Bohemian people are not postponing until Masaryk's death 
the homage that is due him. In this respect they imitate the Ameri- 
cans, who recognized in their first President a man so fixed in purity 
of character that it was not necessary to observe precaution in doing 
him honor. Washington was acclaimed President by all parties, and 
so was Masaryk. Each was first in war, first in peace and first in 
the hearts of his countrymen. 

Washington faced no greater or more disheartening tasks than 
those which confronted Masaryk. In the complexity of political 
problems the creation of the free nation of Czechs and Slovaks was 
a harder task than the creation of the United States. But for the 
burning patriotism and clear vision of two men peculiarly equipped for 
their work, there would have been no United States and no Czecho- 
slovakia. Each of these men labored for the establishment of a 
"nation of laws and not of men," and each succeeded; but before the 
nation of laws could come into existence it was necessary that nations 
of men should be wrestled with, and that unstinted outpourings of the 
energy of the human heart should be offered, in meekness and with a 
"sad sincerity," as libations to the goddess of liberty. Each of the 
nation-builders "builded wiser than he knew." Washington, with all 
his marvelous foresight, did not fully comprehend a century's develop- 
ment, and doubtless Masaryk only dimly imagines the place which 
he and his country will occupy a century hence. His nation is 
stronger and more populous than was the nation that hailed Wash- 
ington as its first President. His country's history goes further 
back, and in its pages are many glowing records of heroism and 
genius. The growth of the United States under a form of free govern- 

[5111 



THE FOUNDER OF A REPUBLIC 

ment such as that which Masaryk has established in Bohemia ought 
to inspire the most optimistic sentiments throughout the new republic. 

One of the facts common to the establishment of both the United 
States and Czecho-Slovakia, which never should be forgotten, is this: 
France was the faithful ally and friend of both. Without France 
Washington's efforts would have been in vain. Without France 
Masaryk could not have achieved the independence of Bohemia. In 
the ever-enduring cement which binds the foundation stones of these 
republics is mixed the blood of Frenchmen shed for others in the 
cause of liberty. 

Another fact that should not be forgotten is this: It was in this 
Capital, under the folds of the American flag, that Masaryk wrote 
the Bohemian declaration of independence. At that time his people 
were under the Hapsburg heel, and there was talk of giving the 
Bohemians "autonomy" in exchange for their surrender of liberty. 
The Hapsburg dynasty had endured for ages. There was no indica- 
tion of the magnificent onslaught that Italy was preparing, much 
less any assurance of its triumph. Yet Masaryk felt and declared 
that Bohemia was and of right ought to be free and independent. 
His declaration has taken its place with the immortal expressions 
of man's determination to be free. 

The anabasis of the Czecho-Slovak forces in Russia is an illustra- 
tion of the happy ingenuity and resourcefulness of that nation. The 
exploits of the army that went around the world will be recounted 
whenever classic examples of endurance and audacity are cited. The 
best that an American can say of that campaign is that it was 
conducted as Americans would have conducted it. Many of the lads 
who became veterans in these adventures were, indeed, former immi- 
grants to America, who had felt the vigor of the American spirit. 
They were directed by Masaryk from Washington, and he drew 
confidence and audacity direct from the American fountain. 

The free republic of Bohemia goes into the twentieth century with 
exultant heart. It has hard problems, but it is free to solve them 
by itself, in behalf of its own people, without the interference of the 
accursed race that so long blighted Europe. Every American rejoices 
in the freedom of the Czechs and Slovaks, and wishes them happiness 
and prosperity. May the founder of their republic be spared to 
complete his wonderful work. 



[512] 



Friday, March 12, 1920 

Willing to Overreach America 

THE importance of preserving exclusively American control over 
American policy is illustrated in the recent testimony of two 
members of the cabinet before Congress committees. Secretary 
Houston discussed financial matters with the House ways and means 
committee, and Secretary Daniels gave his opinions of naval policy 
to the House committee on naval affairs. 

The Secretary of the Treasury does not favor additional loans to 
the allies, does not favor the McAdoo plan of a fresh bond issue and 
a reduction of taxation, and does not favor a bond issue for the pur- 
pose of paying a bonus to soldiers and sailors of the late war. It 
seems, however, that Mr. Houston favors a postponement of interest 
payments by the allies, in order that international exchange may not 
be worse disturbed and also to facilitate reconstruction in Europe. 

No doubt the allied governments are doing their best, but some 
of their policies seem to be lacking in consideration for their obliga- 
tions to the United States. Congress should be better acquainted 
with conditions before it consents to the indefinite postponement of 
payments due from the allies for money advanced. If it be true that 
credits granted by the United States have been used in part for the 
extension of territorial and commercial schemes by the borrowing 
powers, as well as for the expansion of naval and aerial armaments, 
there is no reason why the taxpayers of the United States should be 
compelled to carry the burden of $470,000,000 interest which the 
allies owe annually to the United States. If Great Britain can 
advance $50,000,000 for the establishment of British control over 
Persia and Persian resources, including oil for the operation of the 
British navy, it seems possible that she could squeeze out an install- 
ment upon the interest accruing upon her debt to the United States. 
There is no demand for the principal, amounting to some $4,277,- 
000,000. 

If the sectional interests of southern France can shut out Ameri- 
can imports and prevent the French government from imposing sup- 
portably heavier taxes, while the opportunists in control of the gov- 
ernment are expending huge sums in enlarging the army and extending 
territorial acquisitions in Turkey, it does seem unjust to require 
American taxpayers to shoulder the burden of France's debt to this 
government. The taxes in France are not as high as they should be. 

I 513 ] 



WILLING TO OVERREACH AMERICA 

The people are escaping burdens which Americans are carrying. Let 
Congress investigate this subject before it accepts the vague general 
statement that the allies are unable to pay even an installment upon 
the interest due. 

The league of nations is beginning to inject itself into the world 
financial situation. As the league is controlled by Great Britain and 
France, it is to be expected that the first "advice" of the league coun- 
cil or the international financial conference inspired by it will be to 
the effect that the United States shall postpone indefinitely, or mark 
off entirely, all financial claims against the allies. 

We believe a majority of the American people would reject this 
proposal. We believe that if the league of nations should attempt 
to coerce this nation into accepting such "advice" there would be war. 

Not all of the burdens of the war were borne by the allies. 
Americans have borne a great deal, and are now paying enormously 
excessive taxes because of their generous loans to the allies. Many 
costly derangements of domestic affairs have resulted from American 
contributions to the allies. 

The sidelight thrown upon British naval policy in Secretary 
Daniels' testimony illustrates the hollowness of the claim that the 
league of nations will prevent naval expansion or enable any nation 
to do away with its defensive safeguards. The testimony indicates 
that the British government is aiming to build up an immense imperial 
naval establishment by urging and assisting each of the dominions 
to create a navy of its own. This plan is strictly in line with the 
attempt to give each of five British dependencies a separate vote in 
the league assembly. "All for one and one for all" is a good motto 
for the British empire, as well as for the United States. The effort 
to give the United States one-sixth of the voting power of the British 
empire in the league does not meet the American idea of national 
equality any more than the creation of a fleet by each of the British 
dominions meets the American idea of universal disarmament. 

In his recent letter to Senator Hitchcock — a letter that contains 
numerous astonishing assertions and admissions — President Wilson 
made a distinction between governments and peoples. It is well to 
bear that distinction in mind, now that extraordinary emergencies con- 
front the individuals in control of allied governments. These indi- 
viduals are perfectly willing to overreach the United States, and in 
several recent instances have done so. They do not represent the 
sturdy, honest, faithful peoples whose hearts beat in unison with 
American hearts during the stress of battle. 

[514] 



Sunday, March 21, 1920 

The Two Great Mistakes 

WHILE Americans are told that the hope of the world lies in 
an experimental league of nations, tied by a hodgepodge 
covenant hastily scrambled together at Paris, the disastrous 
mistakes of these same league-makers are shown in Europe. The Paris 
conference did not make peace, as it should have done. It committed 
blunder after blunder, from Prinkipo to Shantung, and these blunders 
are now causing profound changes among the nations, which the 
"supreme council" is trying to meet by committing fresh blunders. 
The United States, thanks to the Senate, has avoided a step which 
would have plunged it into the midst of the European turmoil. This 
nation stands strong and free, despite the frenzied efforts of foreign 
nations and international finance to make it the packhorse of the 
world's troubles. 

The name of any allied or enemy nation in Europe conjures up 
details of some mistake or other by the Paris conference; but the 
two outstanding mistakes concern directly the two biggest nations, 
Germany and Russia. 

The prime mistake was the failure to clinch victory over Ger- 
many. That mistake was made irretrievable when the league cove- 
nant was linked to the peace terms, thus causing the allies to believe 
that the United States was inextricably entangled in European affairs, 
and therefore an underwriter of Europe. 

The second mistake, which time may disclose to be as disastrous 
as the first, was the failure of the allies to treat Russia as a friend 
and ally. That mistake may not yet be irremediable, but no time 
is to be lost if the allies are to prevent Germany from allying itself 
with Russia, thereby forming a combination before which the allies 
and their league of nations would fall easy victims. 

When the peace treaty was celebrated in Paris, there was not a 
single voice raised in memory of the 12,000,000 Russians killed and 
wounded in behalf of the allied cause; not a Russian flag was to be 
seen. The peace conference treated Russia as an enemy, and actually 
carved up her territory and distributed it to claimants set up by 
Germany and the international communists. 

When Ireland and Egypt pleaded for a hearing by the conference, 
the reply was: "We have nothing to do with the readjustment of 

[515] 



THE TWO GREAT MISTAKES 

any except enemy territory." Thereupon the big four carved up 
Russia and China, both of them faithful allies. "Treaties are 
treaties," said the allies, "and must be observed." Whereupon they 
tore up the treaty in which they had solemnly agreed to give Con- 
stantinople to Russia. 

The allies are now preparing to do business with the international 
adventurers who have gained temporary control of Russia. This is 
an act unfriendly to the Russian people, and directly beneficial to 
Germany. 

Is it any wonder that the Germans are seizing upon this oppor- 
tunity to cultivate friendship and trade with Russia? The evidence 
coming from Russia and Germany points all one way. Whether the 
"pink" government of Ebert shall turn red or gradually bleach 
toward white does not make much difference, for the trend of all 
German elements is toward cooperation with Russia. If the Germans 
should give way to communism, their junction with Russian com- 
munists would be almost instantaneous; but that outcome is not 
probable, for the Germans are not communists. They are, however, 
strongly socialistic, and in the reaction against the recent militaristic 
coup they are apt to strike up a sympathetic communication with 
Russian bolshevism. 

The other elements in Germany — the financial, commercial and 
imperialistic — are striving mightily to bring about cooperation with 
Russia. They understand Russia, while the allies do not. The Ger- 
mans are taking advantage of the weakness of Poland as well as of 
the anarchy in Russia. German traders are swarming into Russia. 
The Germans are assiduously stirring up hatred of the allies in the 
minds of all Russians. The propaganda material is abundant. Did 
not the allies betray and desert Russia? Did not the Paris confer- 
ence carve up Russian territory? Did not the big four invite the 
bolsheviki to Prinkipo? Did they not solemnly promise to assist 
Kolchak and then betray him? Are they not beginning to trade with 
the bolsheviki, preliminary to recognizing the international bolshevik 
gang as the "government of Russia?" 

The Germans will skillfully ring the changes on the allies' mis- 
takes in dealing with Russia. Emphasis will be laid on the genuine- 
ness of Germany's friendship, and the Russians will be given tempt- 
ing inducements to strike a bargain with the Huns. Against this 
propaganda, conducted by hundreds of thousands of Germans, the 
allies are and will be powerless so long as they remain in a benumbed 
trance, dreaming of a league of nations. 

I 516 1 



Saturday, April 3, 1920 
Not Binding Upon Americans 

A PARAGRAPH in President Wilson's note to the so-called 
supreme council, on the subject of the dismemberment of Tur- 
key, is worthy of attention: 

"In regard to the relinquishment by Turkey of her rights to 
Mesopotamia, Arabia, Palestine, Syria and the islands, this govern- 
ment suggests that the methods resorted to in the case of Austria be 
adopted, namely, that Turkey should place these provinces in the 
hands of the great powers, to be disposed of as these powers deter- 
mine." 

In the name of the league of nations, the self-determination of 
peoples, and of all the fourteen points at once, what does this mean? 

If it does not mean that there is no longer any hope that the 
league of nations will be created, there is no meaning in language. 
If it does not suggest that the present government of the United 
States favors the imperialist policy of the present premiers in Europe, 
what does it suggest? If it does not attempt to commit the United 
States to the transfer of peoples from one flag to another without 
their knowledge or consent, there is no virtue in human communica- 
tion. If it does not approve of the secret treaties providing for the 
partition of Turkey, it is meaningless. 

The fact is, of course, that the paragraph means exactly what it 
says. In a sense, it is gratifying evidence that the present govern- 
ment of the United States does occasionally glimpse realities and 
concurs in the determination of the "great powers" to assert their 
hegemony over Europe. The basis of this control is force, and the 
effect of the control is the denial of the rights of feeble nations and 
unorganized peoples. Necessarily, when the interests of the strong 
and the weak are in conflict, the weak must suffer. 

But the fact that this message is conveyed by the present govern- 
ment of the United States to the great powers, telling them to go 
ahead and work their will in Asia Minor, does not in any sense bind 
the American people. There is no treaty which ties the United States 
to the allies. Americans are not ready to pass upon the first treaty 
prepared at Paris, much less the Austrian treaty, which seems to 
have become the model for an ideal dismemberment of Turkey against 
the will of the peoples concerned. 

f 517 ] 



NOT BINDING UPON AMERICANS 

Nothing done at Pans, or subsequently by the so-called supreme 
council, is of binding effect upon the people of the United States. That 
fact should not be forgotten by any American citizen, for it affects 

his share of control over his own government in its relations with other 
nations, and thus, by involving peace and war. may affect the lives 
of his own children. 

No word uttered by American diplomats or in diplomatic notes 
can bind Americans to recognize the right of the "great powers'" to 
take over weak peoples against their will. 

The people of France and Great Britain are grossly misrepre- 
sented at this time, in the blind and fatal policy developed by their 
premiers in dismembering the Turkish empire. Neither the French nor 
the British people can possibly be in favor of costly imperial wars, 
one after another, dragging their sons into battles throughout Asia 
Minor. Yet that is what is now being arranged, in pursuance of 
secret treaties signed, we regret to say. by Sir Edward Grey, and 
approved, we regret still more to say. by President Wilson in the 
paragraph quoted above. 

M. d'Kstournelles de Constant, a Frenchman whose character 
gives his opinion great weight, a friend of the league of nations, 
uttered a warning to his countrymen last spring which the present 
French government would do well to heed: 

'"France has too many colonies already — far more in Asia, in 
Africa, in America, in Oceania than she can fructify. In this way 
she is immobilizing territories, continents, peoples, which nominally 
she takes over. * * * In the long run, it is a serious business. 
Spain. Portugal and Holland know this, to their cost. Do what she 
would. France was not able before the war to utilize all her immense 
colonial domain * * * for lack of population. She will be still 
less able after the war." * * * 

France's colonial domain is larger than the United States, yet the 
French population is insufficient for home needs. The imperial 
projects now undertaken in the Turkish empire are pure insanity, so 
far as France is concerned, and cannot but result in disaster. Ameri- 
cans, who love France and will always be ready to aid her as a 
defender of free government, cannot bring themselves to approve of 
the allied adventures in Turkey, and no utterance by the officials 
temporarily representing the United States government can bring 
about American support of those imperialistic designs. Americans 
hold themselves free to sympathize with and aid struggling peoples 
to gain their independence, and to hold it after it has been gained. 

[51S1 



Sunday, April 4, 1920 
A Friend in Adversity 

THE German, Austro-Hungarian and Turkish empires have been 
terribly beaten, and the last two of them extinguished, because 
of their attempt to assert domination over other nations. If 
that is not a warning to covetous peoples and governments, what 
constitutes a warning? 

Yet the gentlemen temporarily in control of certain European 
governments seem to be utterly oblivious of the greatest object lesson 
of the recent war. They are adopting virtually the identical program 
of the Germans, Magyars and Turks; that is, they seek to take by 
fraud and force that which belongs to other nations, and which cannot 
be held without fighting and winning another war. In the recent war 
the governments now practicing imperialism were on the defensive, 
and they won largely because their cause was just; but in the coming 
war they will be on the aggressive, and their cause will be unjust. 
How can they expect to win when Germany, the steel-clad and stone- 
hearted savage, was broken to pieces? 

Unfortunately much of this imperialism is directed against an ally 
and friend, now temporarily disabled — Russia. Instead of standing 
faithfully by Russia, assisting her loyal people to recover control of 
their government, and warding off all attempts to dismember her 
territory, the imperialists now directing British, French and Polish 
policy seem to be intent upon incurring the lasting hatred of the 
most populous white nation on earth. By taking advantage of 
Russia's inability to protect herself, and also by falling in with the 
schemes by which the bolsheviki hope to retain power, the three 
governments mentioned are making it impossible hereafter for Russia 
to range herself with them as a friend and ally. They will be fortu- 
nate, in fact, if they are not called to account by a reorganized and 
powerful Russian nation, capable of enforcing its will against them. 

In the confusion following the war several large territories have 
been ripped away from Russia, notably the "republics" of Georgia 
and Azerbaijan. These territories have been recognized as inde- 
pendent by Great Britain and France. The United States govern- 
ment has refused to recognize them, and has also refused to recognize 
the so-called republics of Lithuania, Ukrainia, Esthonia, Latvia and 
other territories taken from Russia by German or bolshevik intrigue. 

Poland's fight against the bolsheviki ought to have the support 

[519] 



\ FRIEND IN \IUKKMIV 

of the entire civilised world; but Poland's policy unfortunately 

alienates much oi the world's sympathy, and thus frustrates united 

action in her behalf. Instead of confining themselves to indisputably 
Polish territory, the territory occupied by Poles and confirmed to 

Poland by the supreme council, and by the common consent of all 
nations, including Russia, the present Polish government has attempted 
to seize and hold territory that is purely Russian, inhabited by Rus- 
nans and designated by the supreme council as Russian territory. 

In the meantime, there are indications that the bolshevist leaders, 
having given the Poles a hard fight, are now preparing to bribe them 
into friendship by giving them part oi the Russian territory. The 
bolshevist scheme is to agree to the separation of outlying provinces 
and to encourage independent governments therein, which will, in 
turn, rely upon the continuation oi the bolshevik government in 
Russia for their own existence. Tims the bolshevik] hope to build up 
an influence which will help them to put down the internal loyalist 
reaction which is sure to come. The bolsheviki are also holding out 
all sorts of bribes to the '"capitalistic" governments, hoping to make 
them interested in the maintenance oi bolshevism as a means of 
retaining concessions obtained from them. Apparently some of the 
directors oi allied governments have been induced by their own 
greed to make such bargains with the bolsheviki. 

Thus the whirlwind harvest is prepared. 

To the lasting credit of President Wilson, the United States stands 
as the friend oi the Russian people. These paragraphs, in the Presi- 
dent's recent note to the supreme council, will be cited in years 
to come: 

"The government of the United States notes with pleasure that 
provision is made for representation on the international council which 
it is proposed shall be established for the government of Constanti- 
nople and the Straits. This government is convinced that no arrange- 
ment that is now made concerning the government and control of 
Constantinople and the Straits can have any elements of permanency 
unless the vital interests oi Russia in those problems are carefully 
provided for and protected, and unless it is understood that Russia, 
when it has a government recognized by the civilized world, may 
assert its right to be heard in regard to the decisions now made. 

"It is noted with pleasure that the questions of passage of war- 
ships and the regime of the Straits in war time are still under advise- 
ment, as this government is convinced that no final decision should 
or can be made without the consent of Russia." 

1520] 



Monday, April 5, 1920 

Tlie Power to Make Peace 

THOSE who oppose the resolution which proposes to terminate 
the state of war and repeal the war powers of the President 
are beginning to dispute the constitutional right of Congress 
to make peace. They intend to attack the resolution on this ground. 
They hold that peace can be made only by treaty, which the President 
alone has the power to negotiate. 

While there are features of the pending resolution which are 
open to criticism, it will be safer for its opponents to attack it on 
other grounds than those of constitutionality. A little analysis of 
the matter ought to convince any American that Congress can consti- 
tutionally exercise the power to make peace, when necessary. 

There is no limit to the powers of Congress in making war. Con- 
gress may do anything necessary to preserve the nation's existence. 

The power to make war is the power to preserve the nation. The 
power to make peace is also the power to preserve the nation, as 
would be demonstrated very quickly in case of a disastrous war. 

War is a policy which can be adopted only by Congress. It is a 
continuation and development of a precedent policy, merely substi- 
tuting force to accomplish what had been unsuccessfully sought by 
protest and warning. The Executive executes the policy declared by 
Congress, using the means provided by Congress, and subject to the 
rules regulating the forces which are laid down by Congress. 

The Executive and Congress may disagree as to the wisdom of 
continuing a war. The will of Congress controls. 

Executive neglect, failure or refusal to treat for the termination 
of war does not affect the power of Congress to determine the 
national policy and to change the policy from war to peace. 

An Executive might treat for the termination of a war which 
Congress did not wish to terminate. His effort would be in vain. 

War is usually terminated by treaty, but not necessarily. But it 
is always terminated with the consent of Congress, and tacitly under 
its direction. This direction can be made explicit by law, but usually 
it is not necessary to do so. 

The conduct of foreign relations is in charge of the President, 
operating through the Department of State. Congress created that 
department, and can abolish it. But while the President is in charge 

[521] 



THE POWER TO MAKE PEACE 

of the conduct of foreign relations he is subject to law, and he 
cannot conduct foreign relations in violation of law. If Congress 
desires peace he cannot prosecute war, and if Congress desires war 
he cannot make peace. 

The termination of war is the termination of the policy of force. 
The continuation of the policy may depend upon a foreign govern- 
ment, but the termination cannot be decided by a foreign government 
or by the Executive without the consent of Congress. 

The Executive cannot declare war or declare peace. He can 
proclaim either, but only in pursuance of law. If peace is made by 
treaty it is law. 

The reason why war is usually terminated by treaty is because it 
is usually desirable to treat with the enemy. But this is not always 
necessary or desirable. A treaty proposing to end war has just been 
rejected by the Senate, because it is not the policy of Congress to 
end the war on the terms stated in the treaty. 

The Senate, in making treaties, acts according to the will of 
Congress. No treaty ending war can pass the Senate against the will 
of Congress, for the Senate is a part of Congress. The Senate does 
not possess two natures, although it exercises two powers. It exercises 
its share of the treaty-making power in harmony with its share of 
the lawmaking power. As the Senate helped to establish the policy 
of war, it will act according to its nature in dealing with that policy. 
As a lawmaker, it cannot favor war and then, as a treaty-maker, 
favor peace. 

The Executive can make treaties only if the Senate concurs. 

Congress can make laws even if the Executive does not concur. 

Any act of Congress is just as much the supreme law of the land 
as is a treaty. 

The power to terminate war by law is an indispensable alterna- 
tive. It does not disturb, deny or destroy any of the powers of the 
Executive. It is available, however, in case he fails to exercise his 
powers, or attempts to abuse his powers, as, for example, an attempt 
to continue a war by refusing to negotiate peace, or by negotiating 
an unacceptable treaty for the purpose of having it rejected, or by 
refusing to proceed with ratification of a treaty to which the Senate 
had attached reservations. 

The question of policy always remains in the control of Congress, 
and, by its power to overrule the Executive in the making of laws, 
Congress can compel him to execute its policy of war or peace. 

[522] 



Wednesday, April 7, 1920 

Why France Ignores the League 

FRANCE is moving against Germany because the German gov- 
ernment has violated the peace treaty. France is resorting 
to the use of force to compel Germany to observe the terms 
of the treaty as construed by France. This threatens war. 

When the peace treaty went into effect the league of nations came 
into being. The covenant is a part of the treaty. France is a 
member of the league. The covenant provides that the league council 
shall take cognizance of any dispute threatening to disturb the world's 
peace. Another provision requires that disputes over interpretation 
of the peace treaty shall be referred to the council. Still another 
provision binds members of the league to refrain from the use of force 
until they have exhausted all the resources of the league. 

The league of nations was created to stop war. Why doesn't it 
stop the war that is now threatened? Why doesn't it call France to 
account for daring to send her troops into German territory? Why 
doesn't the league council summon France and Germany to appear 
and submit their dispute to arbitration or conciliation, according to 
the covenant? 

The answer is simple and plain. 

The league of nations does not and cannot stop war. It is impo- 
tent, except for purposes of intrigue and intermeddling. France does 
not trust the league, but relies upon the stout hearts of her sons. 
When the treacherous enemy breaks the treaty there is nothing for 
France to do but move forward and compel the Germans to meet 
their obligations. 

If France, instead of instantly checking the Germans in their 
stealthy attempt to nullify the treaty, had drawn up a protest and 
filed it with Sir Eric Drummond, secretary of the league of nations, 
she would have been literally complying with the treaty, but the 
world would have laughed her to scorn; so ridiculous is the method 
set up by the Paris conference to cure the world of war. 

Where is Arthur J. Balfour, acting president of the league of 
nations? He is gone a-fishing, doubtless; for it may be asserted, on 
authority of honest Izaak Walton, that fishing is excellent in April 
in certain parts of England. Sir Eric Drummond, the soul of the 
secretariat, is on the job, of course, but he could do nothing more 

[5231 



WHY FRANCE IGNORES THE LEAGUE 

than file France's protest in pigeonhole No. 345,756, subdivision 
XYZ, there to wait the pleasure of the British angler and his col- 
leagues, of Italy, Japan, Spain, Belgium, Brazil and Greece. In the 
meantime the German troops would be digging in, while France, a 
trembling suitor, would be standing in London, knocking at the door 
of the league of nations. 

What a sorry jest upon the world! What a plan to be suggested 
for the curbing of such tigerish passions as those of the Huns and 
Turks! 

Yet the people of the United States are told that they are morally 
bound to join unreservedly the league of nations; that there is no 
other way; that the world will burst into war unless the league is 
formed; that the league will prevent war by adjusting all disputes 
that may arise, and that France will again be the victim of German 
atrocity unless the league is set up as a barrier. 

At the very moment when the failure of the league of nations is 
demonstrated in actual test, American citizens are balloting upon 
presidential candidates whose attitude toward the league is a factor. 
Some candidates are for the league without reservations, believing 
that the people of the United States are determined to have the 
league. Some other candidates are trying to stay in the middle of 
the road by favoring the league, but with strong reservations, while 
others flatly oppose the league. The result of primary voting in 
Michigan is significant. Senator Johnson, an irreconcilable opponent 
of the league of nations, leads all the rest. 

Can it be that the people of the United States are about to pass 
upon this question in cold blood, and that they will reach the same, 
conclusion that has been reached by France? 

Peace treaties become cadavers at the outbreak of war. The 
so-called peace treaty of Versailles is no exception to the rule. In 
the opinion of millions, on both sides of the Atlantic, the shortest 
road to peace is the completion of the war by the destruction of the 
German war-making machine — the German empire — and the preven- 
tion of further collusion by the separated German states. The league 
of nations would not take this straight road to peace, but would invite 
Germany in, to sit in judgment upon the very treaty which publishes 
her infamy. But France can take this road, and if necessary to her 
existence she will do so. We do not believe Americans will ever raise 
a hand to stop her, or permit any one to stand in her path. 



[524] 



Friday, April 30, 1920 

Learning the Truth 

MUCH of the confusion of thought surrounding the presidential 
contest seems to be an inheritance of the evil days when the 
people of the United States were fed with prepared ideas on 
the question of peacemaking. So skillful and complete was the propa- 
ganda of the Paris treaty that millions of Americans had their opinions 
shaped for them so firmly that subsequent disclosures of the truth have 
had difficulty in removing serious errors. 

Only yesterday a candidate for the Presidency, a man who is 
supposed to think for himself, declared that the league of nations as 
formed at Paris was a necessity, and that the United States could 
not avoid becoming a member of it. This opinion is obviously a mere 
parrot echo of the ideas predigested for the people. He has not 
applied his own clear thought to the subject. 

As the campaign progresses the difference between the political 
parties may crystallize so that the average voter can express his will 
on the fundamental issue. In the meantime, it is incumbent upon 
the voter to know the truth, in order that his will may not be mis- 
directed and do more harm than good. He cannot know the truth 
by merely swallowing without tasting the assertions put forth by 
interested parties. He must apply his own patriotism and reasoning 
powers to the problem — his heart for good action and his head for 
expedient action. 

No American wants war. No American hates Europe or wishes 
harm to Europe. No American is trying to turn the United States 
away from Europe or to shirk its duty. The plea that the United 
States is a renegade to honor and duty if it does not subscribe to the 
bungled bargain of Paris is not an argument to put to sensible men. 
Let it be placed on the shelf with the childish bogey-man and the 
voodoo. 

The question is not, Shall the United States turn its back on 
Europe? It is, Shall the United States play its part in this world 
according to its own conscience and its own will, freely command- 
ing its own action and exclusively directing its own policy? 

If the American people shall answer this question in the affirma- 
tive, there is no ground for fear that their decision would mean the 
abandonment of America's duty. The conscience and generosity of 
the United States would be alive and intact. 

[525] 



LEARNING THE TRUTH 

If the decision should be in favor of the entanglement known as 
the league of nations, there would be good ground for fear that the 
United States would not do its full duty; not because of a desire to 
shirk, but because its freedom of choice and action would be ham- 
pered by the will of foreigners. 

Nothing could be more certain than an American revolt against 
foreign interference. Let any citizen apply, for a moment, his idea 
of British, French, Italian, Japanese, Greek, Spanish, Brazilian or 
Belgian interference in American affairs, and he will at once admit 
that it would be so distasteful that he would instantly revolt against it. 

Yet, with the United States a member of the league of nations, 
as formed at Paris, it would be necessary to submit to this admixture 
of foreign direction of America's policy. The "heart of the league" 
is the substitution of international for national authority. The league, 
and not the United States, must direct American policy if the league 
is to send American troops to Turkey, pledge America's credit for 
Europe's debts, equalize the world's food supply by drawing on 
America's surplus, regulate the size of the United States army and 
navy, and otherwise exercise supervision over the nations. It was 
discovered in 1787 that the American States and the newly created 
United States could not exercise simultaneous sovereign power over 
the same subjects. Congress will discover the same fact if the voters 
next November should decide to join the league of nations. 

Will the voters so decide? A year ago they were of that mind. 
They had been taught by copious propaganda to believe that the 
treaty framed at Paris was the only possible solution of the problems 
created by the war. Was it not a "peace" treaty? Did it not con- 
tain a complete covenant of a league to stop wars? Did not its 
advocates denounce the Senate as disloyal and criminal for failing 
to ratify it forthwith? 

A year's scrutiny of the treaty has shown not merely that it is 
far from being the only possible solution of the war problem, but 
that it is perhaps the worst plan that could have been evolved. Mil- 
lions of Americans who took the treaty on faith are now somewhat 
shamefaced at their credulity, and have inwardly resolved to be more 
sure of their ground before they become so excited again. The 
impulse which demanded the treaty, "without dotting an 'i' or crossing 
a 't,' " was a good impulse, as it was based upon the desire to stop 
wars. The fault was that the demand was made without sufficient 
knowledge of the truth. 

We believe that American voters now know the truth. 

[526] 



Monday, May 3, 1920 

Qualities of a President 

NINE out of ten business men, when asked for their political 
views, reply emphatically, "What this country needs is a busi- 
ness man for President." They are willing to forget political 
lines if they can be assured of a candidate who will be careful to 
promote the business interests of the country. They criticize poli- 
ticians, college professors, lawyers and office holders, and seem to be 
convinced that everything would be smoothed out if a man experienced 
in business were placed in the White House, even if he should be 
ignorant of governmental affairs. Indeed, many business men 
believe that the next President would be successful in proportion to 
his ignorance of government and his knowledge of business. 

Yet this is an extremely short-sighted view, and if it were adopted 
it is quite probable that the first protest would arise from business 
men themselves. 

A man whose activities had been confined to business, no matter 
how extensive the business or how capable he had proved himself 
to be in managing it, would be a failure in the White House — a 
lamentable failure — unless he should develop qualities quite apart 
from his business gifts and somewhat in conflict with them. 

The Presidency is not a business office. The affairs of the United 
States government, so far as they are administered by the President, 
differ so radically from ordinary business in nature and in the manner 
of their administration that a strong business executive, fixed in busi- 
ness habits, would be under a heavy handicap. The qualities which 
had made for success in business would make for failure in the 
Presidency, unless immediately tempered by other qualifications 
which are not gained in a business career. 

The first point to be remembered, which many business men over- 
look entirely, is that the President of the United States, to be suc- 
cessful, must always cooperate with Congress, while preserving his 
independence within his own sphere. He is not in control of the 
government, except as an executor of laws enacted by Congress and 
as the spokesman and negotiator for the United States in dealing 
with foreign nations. A knowledge of law and law-making as 
developed by Congress is well-nigh indispensable to a President. He 
can succeed without this knowledge if he be a Roosevelt, but Roose- 
velt would have been more successful in many directions if he had 

[527] 



QUALITIES OF A PRESIDENT 

possessed it. As for foreign relations, it is evident that something 
more than a business experience is necessary if a President is to carry 
the government "through the corrupted currents of this world" with 
safety and success. 

A President is not merely denied control of affairs by the limita- 
tions of law, so that his method of action is entirely different from 
that of a business executive, but he is sharply reminded on every 
hand, from the moment he takes office, that the government of the 
United States is not a business, and that he must refrain from methods 
that are second nature to a business man. A railroad executive would 
look after his company first, last and all the time. A labor leader 
would work solely for the welfare of the organization to which he 
was responsible. But the President of the United States must look at 
all questions from the standpoint opposite to that of the business 
executive or labor leader. The President must consider the public 
and the government, and must seek to protect them by adopting 
methods exactly contrary to the methods employed by business. 

A business man instinctively endeavors to make his business pros- 
perous and profitable. He is a failure if he does not make money. 
A President, on the other hand, would be a failure if he should 
attempt to make the government a paying institution. His duty does 
not lie in that direction. In many instances it is worse than folly to 
economize in government, and the American people have repeatedly 
commanded their public servants not to regard the government as a 
business institution. The people expect the government to cost 
money. They ask for economical government, but the prime purpose 
in view is not economy, but government. A thousand examples could 
be cited in which the people have directed or approved the expenditure 
of billions of dollars in ways which are anything but economical. 
All this is repugnant to the business man's habit of mind, and a 
business man in the White House would become so uncomfortable 
that he would probably soon run counter to the public will in his 
well-meant endeavor to dam the flood of expenditures. 

A knowledge of large business affairs would be useful to a 
President, of course, if he would employ this knowledge as a supple- 
ment to other qualifications. One man's life, however, is too short to 
grasp all the advantages of experience in business, law, legislation 
and diplomacy. The best that can be expected is that a President 
shall so combine happy qualities of mind, heart and experience as to 
be able to cooperate with the other branches of the government in 
handling the most difficult of all tasks— the task of government. 

[528] 



Monday, May 17, 1920 

Joined to the World 

THE delegates to the two great conventions will make a mistake 
if they confine their attention to domestic questions and the 
selection of candidates qualified to deal only with domestic 
problems. In too many quarters it is lightly assumed that a shrewd 
phrase or two may dispose of the treaty question, and that, when 
this is disposed of, there will be nothing in foreign relations calling 
for the attention of the American voters in shaping their country's 
course during the next four years. It is thought that America is out 
of the war, that Europe is settling her own problems and that purely 
domestic questions will and should absorb the attention of the next 
President and the next Congress. 

There will be domestic problems, admittedly difficult enough to 
engage the whole time and energy of the next administration. It is 
erroneous, however, to consider these problems as purely domestic. 
Almost all of them are involved in larger problems affecting the 
relations of the United States with other nations. These relations 
must be adjusted with the wisest statesmanship available if domestic 
questions are to be settled in a manner conducive to the general 
welfare. Some of the questions that seem simple are extremely 
complicated, and the off-hand suggestions sometimes made for their 
solution would, if adopted, merely make matters worse. 

A little thought reveals how closely the domestic prosperity of the 
United States is tied up with foreign relations. Take the most 
obvious subject, the "high cost of living." Every individual in the 
United States is affected by the universal disturbance of the equilib- 
rium of production and consumption, which has deranged money 
systems and put the temper of the world on edge. The United States 
cannot settle this question in, for and by itself. It must and will 
cooperate with other nations; but not through a dreamy "league of 
nations," which is a political nostrum. It will seek greater production 
of necessaries, the reduction of foolish credits, the enhancement of 
value in currency, the prompt payment of debts, the elimination of 
luxuries and the better distribution of human energy in agriculture, 
building, navigation and transportation. There is little of a political 
nature in these activities, and no league of nations is necessary or 
wise. But there is need of constant consultation with other govern- 
ments, on a basis of good faith and confidence, which will insure to 

[529] 



JOINED TO THE WORLD 



individual enterprise the protection needed to justify an increase of 
international investment and development. 

Americans have millions and hundreds of millions which they can 
invest in foreign fields. But no American will turn loose this stream 
of gold with which to irrigate Europe unless he can be assured of 
safety and a square deal. For this reason the maneuvers of some 
of the politicians at the head of foreign governments are extremely 
shortsighted, and deeply injurious to their own countries. When 
Americans see the policies of certain governments manipulated to 
the disadvantage of the United States and American trade and com- 
merce, at the very moment when the help of America is implored to 
save those governments from ruin, a feeling of disgust and resentment 
is aroused which no smooth words or diplomatic silences can dissipate. 

Each nation will determine the character of its own government. 
If some European governments are directed by tricky politicians it 
will not be the fault of Americans, but it will be their fault if they 
place the United States government in equally incompetent and 
unworthy hands. Americans need not suffer injury from foreign gov- 
ernments if they will keep their own government wise and patriotic. 
They cannot afford to do otherwise; for the tendency of Europe is to 
debase its governmental policies and overreach the United States if 
possible. 

The United States has a bill of $10,000,000,000 against European 
governments. Therefore, it is interested in them and their financial 
prosperity. The productive capacity of the United States will soon 
exceed domestic demands; therefore, all Americans are interested in 
developing foreign trade. Wars make the cost of living high ; therefore, 
Americans are interested in promoting such relations among nations 
as will prevent wars. The United States has invested nearly $4,000,- 
000,000 in ships; therefore, Americans desire to develop commerce. 
Some nations have been proved treacherous and bloodthirsty; there- 
fore, Americans wish to exclude immigration from such polluting 
sources. Other nations are in control of murderous anarchists who 
have gained wealth and are trying to break down this nation; there- 
fore, Americans want a government that will be watchful and well 
informed. 

Many other factors connect the United States with foreign nations, 
and call for the consideration of delegates to the great conventions. 
Interest and patriotism alike call for the formulation of platforms and 
the selection of candidates with foreign relations in mind. 



[530] 



Fridaij, May 21, 1920 

The World's Best Guarantee 

IN THE midst of confusion at home and abroad, Vice-President 
Marshall has uttered a few very sane and suggestive words to his 
fellow Democrats of Indiana. They are applicable to all Ameri- 
cans. The war, he says, was not a Democratic or Republican war, 
and the peace will not be peace if it be made either as a Democratic 
or a Republican peace. He gives a still broader hint to President 
Wilson on the desirability of a compromise: 

"I still hope that the President and the Senate will reach an 
accord upon such terms as will enable the treaty to be ratified and a 
de jure peace to be made with the government of Germany; but as I 
grant to no man the right to read me out of the Democratic party or 
say to me that I cannot stand upon its platform, advocate the elec- 
tion of its candidates and vote for them, I, myself, will not say to any 
man that his views upon the league of nations inevitably place him 
without the Democratic fold." 

This significant remark deserves the attention of Republicans, 
who are supposed to be expert in borrowing good ideas wherever 
they find them. Mr. Wilson's lieutenant pointedly warns against a 
political bigotry, which would make adherence to the treaty and 
league "as written" the test of a Democrat. That effort is to be 
made, apparently, to the imminent danger of the Democratic party. 
It is essentially an attempt to consummate a Democratic peace, fol- 
lowing an unfortunate attempt to distinguish between the patriotism 
of Democrats and Republicans. Inasmuch as the merits and demerits 
of the treaty and league are nonpartisan questions, and cannot be 
determined by any political party, but must be passed upon by all 
parties and all voters, it is evident that Vice President Marshall's 
suggestions are of the highest political value to the Democratic party, 
if it will heed them. 

Republicans may well apply these remarks to themselves. If 
there are groups which intend to force their treaty opinions upon 
the party at the Chicago convention, to the extent of making opposi- 
tion to the treaty or the league a test of Republicanism, they would do 
well to consider the disaster that would follow the accomplishment 
of their purpose. The people are wiser than any group of politicians. 
The people will not be stampeded or deluded into taking an extreme 
and unreasonable position in establishing their relations with other 

[531] 



THE WORLD'S BEST GUARANTEE 

nations. No party stratagem or political hatred sways the people. 
They are not bound to either party. They wish to adopt the policy 
best calculated to secure the welfare of the United States. If they 
cannot accomplish this directly they will accomplish it indirectly by 
choosing the man who in character and principles comes nearest to 
representing their will. He may be a Democrat or he may be a 
Republican. What does it matter, if he executes the people's will? 

It is not in disregard or contempt of political parties that the 
foregoing observations are made. Parties are indispensable, and 
every patriotic American should join a political party in order to 
give and receive the benefit of teamwork in pushing what he believes 
to be right policies. The point sought to be emphasized here is that 
the peace treaty and the league of nations are not properly subjects 
of partisan or interpartisan controversy. They belong to another field 
entirely, just as the question of war belonged to another field. Imag- 
ine a controversy in April, 1917, between Republicans and Democrats, 
or between factions in either party, on the question of declaring war 
against Germany! The absurdity and folly of it would have been no 
greater than the present partisan controversy over the making of peace 
and joining the league of nations. 

If the world were happy and whole the throwing of this ques- 
tion into American politics would not matter so much. The pity 
of it is that the world is sadly in need of honest, common-sense 
leadership, which it is not obtaining. The nations that defeated 
Germany are not in harmony, largely because they have been mis- 
managed by incompetent politicians who have lost sight of the vital 
necessity of subordinating minor questions to the general welfare. 
The peoples of Great Britain, France, Italy and the United States 
are good friends and anxious to do justice to one another. Each 
nation needs the support of the others in bringing order and peace 
again, and in making themselves safe against traitor peoples. 

What is the duty of Americans? Obviously, it is to safeguard 
America, purge it of evils and make it strong. With this nation 
unfettered, strong and pure the world will have the best possible 
guarantee of order and peace. Americans cannot tell other peoples 
where their duty lies, but they can remain friendly with the allied 
nations and can be patient while those nations struggle to rid them- 
selves of incompetent ministers. All the allied peoples are aiming 
at the same thing — liberty and peace. If Americans attend to their 
own duty of safeguarding America's absolute independence and lib- 
erty, they will best befriend other nations. 

[ 532 ] 



Tuesday, May 25, 1920 

Armenia — and Mexico! 

A LARGE proportion of the American people will receive with 
stupefaction the news that the President has asked Congress 
for authority to make the United States responsible to the 
league of nations for the pacification, protection and uplifting of 
Armenia. A smaller proportion of the people had expected this 
request, as a development of the plan to involve the United States 
permanently in the affairs of Europe. 

In a moment of aberration the Senate recently adopted a reso- 
lution requesting the President to dispatch a warship to Batum with 
a force of marines, "with instructions to such marines to disembark 
and to protect American lives and property" at the port of Batum 
"and along the line of the railroad leading to Baku." This reso- 
lution spoke sympathetically of the sufferings of the Armenians and 
congratulated them upon the recognition of the independence of the 
republic of Armenia by the supreme council and the United States 
government. Since the resolution was adopted, the Russian bolshe- 
viki have taken Baku, and are either in possession of Batum or pre- 
paring to take it. Therefore, if the President should comply with the 
Senate's request, a broad road will be opened for war between the 
United States and the Russian bolsheviki. 

The President promptly takes this resolution as a hint that the 
Senate favors an American mandate over Armenia. The Senate 
obviously did not intend to convey such a hint, but it made such a 
blunder when it adopted the resolution in question that it will now 
have difficulty in making clear its true intent. The resolution was 
one of the political subterfuges too often adopted by both branches 
of Congress, and was meant to be merely a sop to the voters who 
are interested in Armenia. But with all its insincerity, it does not 
constitute an intimation that the Senate favors the assumption of a 
mandate over Armenia. Of course the President knows the Senate's 
real attitude, and his shrewdness in turning the tables upon the 
Senate by quoting its own resolution will be admired by all poli- 
ticians. 

As an additional reason for assuming the burden of Armenia the 
President alludes to the action of the British, French and Italian 
premiers at San Remo, "inviting" the United States to become 
responsible for Armenia. Mr. Wilson thinks this invitation should 

[533] 



ARMENIA— AND MEXICO! 

be accepted, and that the American people wish to become protectors 
of Armenia. 

The allied premiers at San Remo completed their plans for the 
partition of the Turkish empire according to secret treaties made 
during the war, which were concealed from the United States and 
were not known to Mr. Wilson until he arrived at Paris to make 
peace on the basis of open covenants openly arrived at, according to 
the pledge given by the allied premiers in agreeing to the armistice. 
The secret dismemberment of Turkey gave Mesopotamia and Pales- 
tine to Great Britain, Syria to France, Adalia to Italy, and Smyrna to 
Greece, and left Armenia to be apportioned later. The pre- 
miers now ask that the United States take over Armenia, which 
contains no oil fields, minerals, or other attractive resources. On one 
side of Armenia are the bolsheviki and on the other are the Turks. 
Wars and massacres in Armenia are incessant on account of the 
inextricable mixtures of races and religions. The people are as 
ignorant as the people of Mexico. 

Mexico! Does not that word ring in the ears of all Americans, 
from the President down to the humblest citizen? If it is the duty 
of Americans to go to the other side of the world to assist Arme- 
nians, is it not the duty of Americans to assist the starving, plundered 
and terrorized Mexicans? Why is it that the cry of Armenia is 
heard and the cry of Mexico falls on deaf ears? Armenia is far 
off, but Mexico is at America's doorstep. The Armenians number 
perhaps 3,000,000, and the Mexicans number 14,000,000. The Arme- 
nians are in Europe, where powerful civilized nations nearby can 
befriend them. The Mexicans are in the New World, which cannot 
be entered by any nation of Europe. The United States warns Euro- 
pean nations to stay out of this hemisphere and will not suffer them 
to enter, even for the purpose of assuming mandates for the uplift 
of backward nations. Mexico is rich in oil and minerals, and there- 
fore several European nations doubtless would be glad to assume 
responsibility for its moral welfare, but the United States interposes 
its veto. In the covenant of the league of nations stands a per- 
petual barrier, if words are barriers, which excludes Europe from 
mandates in this hemisphere. Inferentially the United States becomes 
responsible for backward countries when it insists upon barring other 
nations from such responsibility. 

But Americans need not go to the covenant of the league or any 
other bargain, secret or openly arrived at, in order to ascertain 
their duty. Their hearts tell them that charity begins at home. 

[534] 



Friday, May 28, 1920 

The Problem Made Simple 

THE President's veto of the peace resolution and the action of 
the Senate committee on foreign relations, foreshadowing rejec- 
tion of the Armenian mandate, mark another advance in the 
process which is simplifying the problem of America's relations to 
other nations. The people must pass upon this problem, and the fact 
that it is becoming clearer and simpler is gratifying to every believer 
in popular government. 

The veto message is a step forward, because it discloses that there 
is nothing in America's foreign relations which is not already known 
to the people. Mr. Wilson uses vigorous language in condemning 
the resolution, but he does not adduce any new arguments or facts 
which might incline wavering voters to accept the league of nations. 
It is noticeable that the President does not challenge the constitu- 
tionality of the peace resolution. He opposes it because it does not 
accomplish peace in the manner desired by him, not because it would 
be futile in achieving peace. The resolution ignores the fourteen 
points, and thus, in his opinion, it would make the United States 
turn its back upon Europe. But the treaty itself ignores some of 
the fourteen points. Nowhere in the treaty or the covenant is there 
any provision for compelling a reduction of naval armaments. The 
power that now rules the seas is left unchallenged in its supremacy. 

There is no serious inclination in Congress to pass the peace reso- 
lution over the veto, because the entire question is soon to go before 
the people. The veto, therefore, is of importance chiefly as revealing 
that the President has no further facts to place before the people to 
guide them in forming judgment on the nature of the relationship 
which this nation should adopt toward European nations. 

The vote on the Armenian mandate is interesting in its disclosure 
of Democratic opposition to President Wilson's request. In a sense 
the Armenian proposal is "putting the cart before the horse," because 
it calls for action by the United States under the league of nations 
when the United States is not a member of the league. But from the 
President's viewpoint it is a consistent move, as he goes forward as 
far as his powers permit in the direction which would be taken by 
the government if it should join the league. The President presup- 
poses that the United States will join the league. Heretofore his 
Democratic supporters in the Senate have acted according to the 

[535] 



THE PROBLEM MADE SIMPLE 

same presumption. But now, on the Armenian question, some of the 
most stalwart Democratic supporters of the league are seen to falter 
and then join the opposition. They have not yet said that their vote 
means opposition to the league, but they will have difficulty in oppos- 
ing the Armenian mandate and supporting the covenant, for the 
reason that the framers of the covenant shaped the language with 
a view to American overlordship over Armenia, according to under- 
standings reached with the European powers. A senator who votes 
for the league and against assuming a mandate under the league is 
laying himself open to the criticism of trying to have the United 
States dodge its responsibilities. 

The Senate is expected to adopt the committee report rejecting 
the mandate proposal. Then the conventions will be held, the 
parties will name candidates and define their position on the treaty 
question, and the issue will be in the hands of the people. 

The contrasting pictures of conditions north and south of the Rio 
Grande River are sufficient to remind Americans that they cannot 
too sacredly cherish the blessing of actual free government. They 
are about to decide for themselves a question of overwhelming im- 
portance to themselves and their posterity. This question affects the 
soul of their government, being in its essence a choice between con- 
tinued freedom of action by Americans in directing their government 
and a surrender to foreigners of that freedom of action. 

The poor Mexican people cannot now make such a choice. They 
are not in control of their government, and do not know how to 
control it. They have a well-worded constitution, given to them by 
the Indian who sprang from the soil and developed qualities like 
those of Lincoln. But this constitution has been set aside by usurpers 
of power. The right of the Mexican people to vote is not denied in 
law, but in fact they are robbed of the vote. If the ruler of Mexico 
for the time being should decide to make Mexico a member of the 
league of nations he could do so without consulting the people. He 
could accept a mandate over Armenia without the knowledge or 
consent of the people, and could send them to fight the Tartars, bol- 
sheviki and Turks. If the Mexican senate should disagree with him 
he could dissolve it and call another, or, if it should be peculiarly 
stubborn, he could reduce its numbers by ordering the members out 
to be shot. 

The freedom of will which ennobles the American nation, and 
which makes the voice of its people the voice of God, will decide 
the question of retaining or surrendering that freedom of will. 

[536] 



Monday, May 31, 1920 
For Americans to Decide 

UNLESS President Wilson should be utterly defeated and repu- 
diated at San Francisco a few days hence, the people of the 
United States will be asked to support the league of nations 
proposal, and one of the great parties will have pledged itself to 
make the United States a member of the league if the people should 
return that party to power. 

It is not an abstract league of nations which Americans are asked 
to support, but the specific covenant framed at Paris, under which 
the league council is now attempting to take over the supervision 
of nations. 

The league as shaped at Paris will probably either gain power 
and rule many nations, or be denied power and die; although at 
present it is in a state resembling neither life nor death. 

By joining the league and surrendering jurisdiction over America's 
foreign policy to it, the United States can help powerfully to make 
the league paramount to all governments outside the British empire, 
and perhaps paramount to the British system of nations. By refusing 
to join, the United States can prevent the league from being, at most, 
anything more than a subordinate to the present British system. 

The most powerful individual in the world is Mr. Lloyd George, 
prime minister of Great Britain. This is due partly to his own genius 
and energy, and partly to the circumstances resulting from the 
failure of the Paris conference to make an effective peace. Another 
individual would be powerful in Mr. Lloyd George's place, but pres- 
ent history is the product of the combination of a certain man in 
control of a certain government, dealing with a certain set of problems. 
It is as idle to speculate on what might be as upon what might have 
been. 

The United States and the nations composing the British empire 
are friendly, and ardently desire to remain friends. There is an 
instinctive dread among all English-speaking peoples of the effects 
of a war between the United States and Great Britain. As the two 
nations are in the van of civilization and resources, a clash between 
them might destroy civilization itself. The avoidance of any act 
or policy which would tend to provoke a conflict is the plain duty of 
every American and every Briton. 

[537] 



FOR AMERICANS TO DECIDE 

The life impulses of the United States and those of the British 
empire are different in nature. It is the impulse of the United States 
to grow by internal development and to avoid accretions which would 
destroy the homogeneity of the American government or people. It 
is the impulse of the British empire to grow by external accretions, 
without regard to government, people or language. The American 
people desire to rule only themselves. The British people naturally 
desire to rule others. 

In obedience to the most powerful impulses of his people, Mr. 
Lloyd George is making present history in many parts of the world. 
He is holding the league of nations in suspense, pending the momen- 
tous decision of America. With admirable caution he is trying to 
avoid all steps which might bring the colossal English-speaking forces 
into collision. 

Any one who will bear in mind the fundamental difference in the 
tendencies of the United States and the British empire, and then 
analyze the covenant of the league of nations, will almost certainly 
conclude that it is impossible for these mighty powers to bind them- 
selves in this compact without risking a collision. 

The United States is made up of many nationalities. Citizens 
retain a natural love for the land of their origin. Any controversy 
between any country and Great Britain is almost sure to arouse a 
portion of the American people. If the United States were in the 
league it would be compelled to share in the adjustment of all dis- 
putes everywhere, and, since the British empire touches nearly all 
other nations in some respect, there would be fruitful opportunities 
for American politicians to stir up quarrels with the British people. 
The demands of parts of the British empire for self-government would 
provide fuel for bitter controversies. 

British interests throughout the world and the British system of 
government make it easy and natural for the British governing 
authorities to take a hand in international disputes. The American 
governing authorities have found it difficult and unnatural to partici- 
pate in these questions. The American people do not understand 
foreign politics and are not interested in international intrigues, hav- 
ing no territory or interest to be endangered and no ambitions to 
gratify. 

Separate, going their own way according to their nature, there is 
room in the world for the British empire and the United States as 
good friends, cooperating in the arts of civilization. The American 
people may decide to keep this nation in its natural orbit. 

[538] 



Saturday, June 12, 1920 

The Momentous Choice 

THE country stands on tiptoe awaiting the result of the balloting 
at Chicago. The delegates did a hard day's work yesterday, 
but doubtless scores of them were anxious to continue in the 
hope of forcing a break in the lines. Taken as a whole, the conven- 
tion was decidedly matter-of-fact in its efforts to reach a choice. 
The delegates were not swayed by emotion, although many of them 
were evidently voting in the dark, waiting for the first sound of the 
approaching bandwagon and standing ready to change their al- 
legiance at a moment's notice. 

The men placed in nomination are almost all worthy of the Presi- 
dency. There is hardly a poor piece of timber in the lot. The 
leaders in the race are exceptionally good Americans, and the con- 
vention would not be making a mistake if it should unite upon any 
one of them. Some of the dark horses, also, who have received only 
a few votes, are excellent material, and if the struggle should become 
a deadlock their small figures may suddenly expand. 

Naturally, last night was given over to earnest conferences by 
the leaders from various States, in the endeavor to agree upon a 
candidate who might be nominated on the first ballot today. Whether 
the night shall have brought wise counsel will appear very soon. 
Inasmuch as the three candidates receiving the largest vote have all 
shown gains during the four ballots, it seems improbable that any one 
of them will be willing just yet to throw his strength to a dark horse. 
Each is hoping that the slight increase in his case will be regarded 
by the delegates as the first glimpse of the bandwagon which all 
of them are so anxious to be first to perceive and mount. 

Gov. Lowden showed the greatest proportionate gain. He trav- 
eled at a rate which, if continued, would have gained the prize. 
Senator Johnson was higher on the third than on the fourth ballot — 
an ominous sign, indeed. Gen. Wood, although leading all, did not 
gain as rapidly as a winner should. But each of these candidates 
has reason to indulge in hope, for any gain at all is encouraging. 

It seems probable that the party leaders have done their utmost 
to induce one of this trio to withdraw, either in favor of one of the 
others or a dark horse. Judging by past conventions, it is also prob- 
able that each of the leading candidates has a good understanding 
with his managers and close friends, as to the candidate he will favor 

[539] 



THE MOMENTOUS CHOICE 

if the moment comes when he himself cannot hope to win. This 
candidate may be one of the darkest of dark horses, but he could 
soon draw conquering strength if he should suddenly inherit the vote 
of one of the leaders. Delegates would then be sure that the winner 
had appeared, and they would gladly join his column, thus making 
his victory early and overwhelming. 

If the contest should take this turn, the country might be treated 
before nightfall to the unexpected triumph of a dark horse like Sen- 
ator Harding, for example, who occupies a strong strategic position, 
in case the three leading candidates neutralize one another's chances. 

So long as Wood, Lowden, Johnson and Harding are virtually 
holding their own, it is not to be supposed that they will be willing 
to withdraw. Unless the heads of delegations, therefore, have been 
enabled by this morning to reach an agreement among themselves 
which will materialize the winner, the balloting is likely to continue 
for a long time, until the struggle itself brings a contestant to the 
point where the delegates begin to regard him as a winner. At the 
moment any candidate attracts the magic and mysterious prestige 
of success, he will have votes to spare, suddenly, and drawn from 
all other candidates, whether the delegates have been released or not. 

Above all things, the delegates wish to be on the side of the win- 
ner, on the ballot which makes him a winner. No delegate will 
willingly vote for a loser on the decisive ballot. The delegates are 
politically ambitious, as a rule, and it would stand them in good 
stead if they could come to Washington after next March, drop in 
at the White House to see the President and casually remind him 
that they had voted for him on the ballot that made him the nominee 
of the party. 

There are thousands of factors that come into play in nominating 
a candidate, but they all converge into the one prime factor of avail- 
ability. The nominee must bear inspection from North, East, South 
and West. Only a few of the candidates meet the tests of avail- 
ability from all angles; perhaps not one of them is without serious 
drawbacks from certain viewpoints. The delegates are anxious to 
choose the candidate least liable to be picked to pieces later on 
account of some flaw which was not disclosed at convention time. 
As the thousands of factors are brought into competition and bal- 
anced against one another, the suitability of each candidate is sub- 
jected to an X-ray of intense scrutiny. The candidate who can go 
through this ordeal best, and whose managers have otherwise con- 
ducted his race with discretion, is the man who stands the best 
chance of nomination. 

[540] 



Sunday, June 13, 1920 

The Republican Nominees 

THE Republicans of the United States have met and solved with 
consummate skill the two problems of defining their battle 
plans and choosing their leader. They have mixed courage 
with discretion in shaping their platform, and have nominated a can- 
didate who has more points of availability and fewer handicaps than 
any other man considered for the nomination. The natural law of 
the survival of the fittest operates with inexorable force in a great 
national convention, where all factors are in open competition. In- 
dividuals do not know all the factors involved, but the whole conven- 
tion knows them all, and the interplay of these factors lops off the 
weak and thrusts forward the strong. 

Warren G. Harding is an American of the finest type. He owes 
his nomination to nobody except the delegates representing the Repub- 
lican party. If they had not found him to be the most suitable can- 
didate he would not have been nominated, for the delegates voted as 
they pleased, or as instructed by the voters. They sought a winner, 
and when they had sifted out the points of availability of each can- 
didate they selected Harding. It would be interesting to go over the 
list of factors which obviously combined to bring about this result, 
but it is sufficient to say that when delegates from all the States agree 
upon a candidate for President, in circumstances of such entire free- 
dom of choice as prevailed at Chicago yesterday, their nominee is 
necessarily the strongest one who could be named. 

This nomination is doubly creditable to Senator Harding on 
account of the high character and ability of his rivals. The delegates 
are not to be criticized for taking ten ballots in view of the number 
and character of the candidates, to say nothing of other Republicans 
who might have been placed in the running. 

Within this month the Democratic convention will meet. The 
same merciless process of selecting the fittest will bring from that 
great gathering a candidate to do battle with Senator Harding. We 
expect to see the Democratic party nominate an American who can be 
applauded as the peer of any of his fellows, and especially adapted to 
serve with distinction if elected. 

Gov. Coolidge, Senator Harding's running mate, is well suited for 
the dignified and potentially fateful post to which he has been nomi- 
nated. 

[541] 



THE REPUBLICAN NOMINEES 

Turning to the future, it may be safely predicted that the Demo- 
cratic convention will try to shape its plans to meet the situation 
created by the Republicans. The San Francisco convention may not 
go so far as to nominate Gov. Cox merely to make sure that Harding 
shall not carry Ohio without a finish fight, but the Democrats will 
not entirely ignore the Ohio factor. Without Ohio Mr. Wilson would 
not have been reelected. 

Senator Harding's qualifications must sway the Democrats in 
selecting their standard-bearer. They will seek to magnify any weak 
points they can find in him, and to avoid nominating any candidate 
with similar points. 

But when all this has been done, the struggle will revolve around 
the single issue arising from President Wilson's peace plan. The 
Republican party totally rejects that plan, and Senator Harding has 
been most emphatic in his opposition. The Democratic party must 
either support the Wilson plan or repudiate it, and it must make 
this choice forthwith. Since repudiation of the plan means repudia- 
tion of the party's record as administrator of the government, it 
must be concluded that the Democrats at San Francisco will refuse 
to take that suicidal course. They may do their best to avoid entire 
commitment to the Wilson plan, as a matter of political expediency, 
but they will not repudiate it. They must, therefore, find a candi- 
date who will suit the platform, just as the Republicans have just 
done. But the Democrats have a much more difficult task than that 
which confronted the Republicans, hard as it was to reconcile the 
two wings at Chicago. The Democrats suffer under the disadvan- 
tage of responsibility for an administration whose plan for the solu- 
tion of a supreme problem is repugnant to a large section of the 
party and the people. 

The new Republican leader has his work in the future, where 
criticism does not touch it. The present Democratic leader has his 
work in the past, subject to bitter criticism. The Republican leader 
is not responsible for the Republican party's record, for he was not 
leader when it was made. The Democratic leader is responsible for 
his party's record. The Republican leader is the fresh choice of his 
party. The Democratic leader was chosen four years ago, when 
conditions were entirely different. Thus the problem confronting 
the Democratic delegates at San Francisco is more difficult than that 
which has faced the Republicans at Chicago. 



[542] 



Friday, June 25, 1920 
Lloyd George and Lenine 

THE European situation changes almost hourly, but its changes 
are closely related and may be followed without much diffi- 
culty. The latest development brings out more clearly than 
ever before the two master figures of David Lloyd George and 
Nikolai Lenine. The struggle is between these two men. "The prize 
is India — there she lies, a pearl." 

The director of the British empire is gifted with a keen vision, an 
intuitive knowledge of human nature, a supple but determined will, 
and a contempt for mere consistency that reaches the heights of 
genius. He has no regard for the past if it interferes with the pres- 
ent, and none for the present if it interferes with the future. His 
own qualities and several remarkable events have enabled him to 
become the strongest factor in European politics and the virtual 
general manager of the powers that were aligned against Germany 
and her allies. France, in some measure, finds herself constrained 
to yield to Lloyd George in matters of great importance. Italy is 
almost without a will of her own when Lloyd George speaks. Greece, 
now coming to the front, is acting in accordance with Mr. Lloyd 
George's plans, as he has just advised the house of commons. Poland 
has been supplied with British munitions in the imperialistic adven- 
ture in Russia, in pursuance of plans approved by the British prime 
minister. All the other allied governments look to the British gov- 
ernment for leadership, and the British government in such matters 
is Mr. Lloyd George. 

Opposed to the British premier in a gigantic struggle, which may 
prove to be the turning point of modern civilization, is Nikolai 
Lenine, the subtle and mysterious Oriental, who has gathered into 
his hands the reins of power reaching from the Pacific to the Baltic 
and Black seas, and from the Arctic nearly to the Persian Gulf. 
There are more millions of men under Lenine's influence than there 
are under the influence of Lloyd George. Lenine's influence, in fact, 
is so intangible and so permeating that it filters into Great Britain 
itself, and like an invisible hand withers the resolution that would 
lift the sword to strike down Irish revolters and nationalist pro-bol- 
shevik strikers. Throughout the British possessions in Asia and 
Africa the destructive effects of Lenine's warfare are becoming more 
prominent every day. 

[543] 



LLOYD GEORGE AND LENINE 

The ramifications of the struggle between Lloyd George and 
Lenine are very numerous. Some of them do not show on their face 
how intimately they are connected with the main struggle. It is only 
when the reader keeps in mind the principal objective of each side 
that he can assign to its place each phase of the world war as it is 
now developing. Men say there is peace, and they hold aloft a piece 
of paper called the Versailles treaty, containing a compact which 
says — on paper — that war shall be no more. In the meantime there 
is war, and has been war since July, 1914. History will record that 
the war, which began in 1914, continued in changing forms into and 
throughout 1920. The future will fill the page. This is not the first 
time when men have cried "Peace! Peace!" when there was no peace. 

Greece has begun an offensive against Mustapha Kemal Pasha, 
in the country to the northeast of Smyrna. It is a Greek operation 
at present, but is expected to develop into an Anglo-Greek offensive, 
and perhaps an Anglo-Greek-Franco-Italian operation. The first 
objective is the defeat of the Turkish nationalists, but immediately 
behind them stands Lenine, who is the real enemy. Unless the Turks 
can be beaten before they have received from the bolshevik dictator 
that kind of help which seems to be more potent than machine guns 
and airplanes, the British empire will be forced to defend itself in 
very disadvantageous circumstances. It is on the defensive in Persia, 
Afghanistan, Syria, Arabia and Egypt, while a stealthy infiltration of 
bolshevism into India is carrying the unmistakable warning that a 
struggle is at hand. 

Lenine has accomplished feats which constitute a reshaping of the 
history of the world, and at this moment he is ascending toward still 
more prodigious heights of accomplishment. The exploits of 
Ghenghis Khan, who may easily be Lenine's lineal ancestor, sink 
into insignificance compared with the achievement of Lenine in gain- 
ing despotic control over a modern nation of 180,000,000 inhabitants, 
from which he is exercising a power that has a tendency to disin- 
tegrate every government in the world. He has shattered British 
power in Persia, paralyzed British influence in Afghanistan as a 
preliminary to disrupting India, stirred up revolt throughout all 
Islam, and is actually the inspirer of present wars in Turkey, Persia, 
Caucasus, Turkestan, Egypt, Bokhara and Siberia. They are all 
part of the great war, now becoming a struggle between the Orient 
and the Occident, and between civilization and anarchy. 



[544] 



Wednesday, July 7, 1920 
Mr. Cox for President 

SUPERIOR generalship, concentration of elements opposed to the 
I present regime and recognition of Republican strategy appear 
to have been the controlling factors which brought about the 
nomination of Mr. Cox. It was a strenuous battle, which ended in 
the defeat of the Federal officeholding organization. What the man- 
agers of this organization lacked in ability they nearly made up in 
other resources, so that the struggle was fairly even during more than 
40 ballots. The experienced generalship of the old guard leaders, 
however, was too much for the Federal organization. Several costly 
mistakes were made by the supporters of Mr. McAdoo, and his heavy 
vote, in spite of these mistakes, was proof of his popularity. Mr. 
Palmer's cause was well managed, and his supporters made the 
pluckiest fight of all. 

The selection of Mr. Cox was one of the obvious suggestions 
resulting from the nomination of Mr. Harding. Ohio is a battleground 
always, but since Mr. Wilson carried it so overwhelmingly in 1916 
the Republicans attached special importance to the State, and the 
desire to win Ohio was one of the reasons why Mr. Harding was 
nominated. Now, if the Republicans were so anxious to take over 
Ohio, it was desirable from a Democratic standpoint to make their 
plans come to naught. Nothing is sure in politics, but it seemed 
reasonable to insist that if a son of Ohio was deemed strongest by 
the Republicans another son of Ohio should be his strongest rival. 

This consideration was undoubtedly a valuable asset of the Cox 
organization at San Francisco. Stronger than that, however, was 
the combination of anti- Wilson leaders, who centered upon Cox as 
the most available candidate for their plans. Their first purpose was 
to break the hold of the Wilson regime and regain control of the 
Democratic national organization. They could not gain anything 
without supporting a candidate who was strong in himself and who, 
if nominated, would stand a good chance of winning the Presidency. 
They had to find an independent man, of course, for a mere satellite 
of President Wilson could not be depended upon to assert leadership, 
even if nominated leader. They preferred also a candidate who was 
known to have liberal views on the prohibition question. Gov. Cox 
answered all these requirements. The strong leaders, like Murphy, 
Taggart, Nugent, Marsh and Brennan, accordingly stood by him 

[545] 



MR. COX FOR PRESIDENT 

through thick and thin. By their skilled generalship and powerful 
influence among the leaders of various State delegations they rendered 
important aid to Judge Moore, the field marshal of the Cox forces. 

The feeling against the administration manifested itself at San 
Francisco, despite the general desire to present a united front. The 
Cox managers shrewdly utilized this feeling, intensified it and di- 
rected its energy to the strengthening of the Cox candidacy. They 
also laid stress upon the character of the Republican campaign plans 
and sought to prove that the nomination of Cox would offset the drift 
toward the Republicans in Ohio and adjacent States. The strong 
"wet" sentiment in the convention found sympathy and encourage- 
ment among the Cox managers. Thus a variety of elements favored 
Cox. 

The Democratic 'nominee is an attractive, alert, courageous 
American, of good, sturdy ancestry, clean-blooded and clean-handed. 
His record of achievement is already long, although he is a growing 
man and has not yet reached the height of his powers. He makes 
friends quickly and holds them long. His working knowledge of 
government is thorough and practical. His theory of government is 
weighted with common sense. His pursuit of ideals does not vola- 
tilize his spirit and cause him to follow strange visions in the upper 
ether, to the utter disregard of his relations with other men. 

Mr. Cox is bound to the Democratic platform, and the platform 
was not drawn up by him. Its most important plank comes from 
President Wilson, who, up to yesterday, was leader of the Demo- 
cratic party and dictator of its policies. Mr. Cox is now the leader, 
subject only to such inheritances as are morally binding upon him. 
President Wilson did not try to name the candidate, but he took 
good care that the candidate should have a ready-made platform 
committing him to the league of nations. In the fierce campaign that 
is now approaching, Mr. Cox will have full opportunity to champion 
the Wilson league and make clear his intention, if elected, to push 
the treaty through the Senate exactly as desired by President Wilson. 

The campaign will hinge more or less upon that one question. 
The Democrats who so strongly supported the league and fastened it 
in the platform will demand from Mr. Cox an early and unequivocal 
declaration of his position. Other Democrats, who fear the election 
may be lost if the Wilson league be too much emphasized, will be 
content if Gov. Cox will subordinate the league question. From the 
opposition will come onslaughts on the league, which Gov. Cox will 
be called upon to meet. 

[546] 



Friday, July 16, 1920 

Right Remains Armed 

THE Germans have employed the bolshevik specter to good pur- 
pose at Spa, so far as newspaper propaganda is concerned. 
They did not succeed quite so well in creating a panic among 
the allied premiers. 

Some of the excited correspondents at Spa conjured up the vision 
of an overwhelming flood of reds sweeping over Poland, Germany 
and the remainder of Europe. Trotzky was pictured at their head, 
a gigantic composite of Genghis Khan, Napoleon and Danton, domi- 
nating Europe and transfixing one nation after another, until civili- 
zation itself should fall, "in one red burial blent." The only recourse 
was to buy off the reds, and incidentally the most urgent duty was 
to avoid an impasse with Germany, which might, if driven to despair, 
open its arms to the reds. 

A blood-curdling prospect, indeed, and a most disagreeable alter- 
native. The alternative, however, is a little shopworn. The Ger- 
mans have threatened to throw bolshevik fits just a little too often. 
They rehearsed a few spasms immediately after the armistice, and 
succeeded in frightening the Paris peace doctors. A few convulsions 
were volunteered later, culminating in the well-simulated cataleptic 
fit in the Ruhr basin. Gradually, however, the allied governments 
have become calloused to German bolshevism, and are now quite 
expert in detecting when a spasm is counterfeit and when it is genuine. 
The Germans are experts in dyes, but their red is not a fast color. 
It becomes pink under too frequent use, and quickly fades into a 
sickly gray when confronted with Dr. Foch and his celebrated pre- 
scription. 

The bolshevik army, so called, is abundantly able to defeat the 
Poles. It could not do so if it were really a bolshevik army, com- 
posed solely of communists and supported solely by communists in 
Russia. The truth is that the army coming out of Russia is a national 
force, defending Russian soil, and throwing out of Russia an army 
of invasion. Whether the bolshevism in the Russian army is suffi- 
ciently potent to transform it into an aggressive force bent upon 
conquest remains to be seen; but the probabilities are overwhelmingly 
against such an assumption. 

Assuming, however, that the Russian force is red to the core, and 
dominated by the fanatic Trotzky, there is no occasion for worrying 

[547] 



RIGHT REMAINS ARMED 

over the fate of Europe. The days of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane 
are past. Mere numbers mean weakness unless equipped with modern 
arms. Russia has a small supply of guns, tanks, airplanes, &c, 
which were wrested from Kolchak, Denikin and Yudenitch. These 
worthies received the material mostly from Great Britain and France. 
But all the material in Russia would not suffice for a day of such 
battles as were fought in 1918. Russia has neither the skill nor the 
raw material with which to fashion war equipment in competition 
with any one of the great allies. The notion that an innumerable 
modern army is to emerge from Russia and overwhelm armed Europe 
is a fantastic dream. The allied premiers know this, and so do the 
slippery Germans who are haggling at Spa in an effort to evade the 
pledges given by Germany. Hence the appearance of preposterous 
forecasts of a red deluge, at the same time that both Germany and 
the Russian soviet find it expedient to come to terms with the allied 
powers. 

As President Wilson wisely said at Paris, the ultimate assurance 
of peace and justice in this world is force in the hands of the powers 
that have proved themselves desirous of peace and justice. He told 
the Roumanians that they must recognize the right of the great 
powers to have their will against small nations whenever, in the 
judgment of the strong powers, such interference was necessary to 
preserve peace and maintain justice. The great powers had the 
responsibility for preserving peace, he said, because they alone had 
the force which could preserve it. 

The great allied powers still hold the keys of peace. So long 
as they do not imitate the early delusions of the bolsheviki by throw- 
ing away their guns and embracing enemies as brothers, free govern- 
ments will be safe. Wars will come, because injustice cannot be 
eliminated from human affairs, and also because some nations ex- 
pand and burst their boundaries; but free government will prevail. It 
has been tested from within, by the American civil war, and from 
without, in the world war, and it is triumphant against any force 
that can assail it. But it is not triumphant merely because it is 
right; it is triumphant because it is both armed and right. 

Wrong went forth armed, and it nearly conquered. The free 
spirit of mankind rallied under the allied flags and won the fight. 
Peace should have been made then on the prostrate body of wrong. 
Instead, a paper scheme was adopted, providing for the throwing 
away of the arms which had saved the world. But the scheme has 
not been consummated. The great free nations are still armed and 
determined to survive. 

f 548 1 



Thursday, July 22, 1920 

Col. House Speaks 

ENGLAND and Japan believe in the league of nations, but they 
keep their powder dry. They have just renewed their treaty 
of alliance, which flies in the face of the covenant of the 
league. It is an agreement which in its nature is repugnant to the 
vision of universal confidence, mutuality of unselfishness and volun- 
tary disarmament. The smug manner in which Great Britain and 
Japan proceed with their defensive-offensive armed alliance while 
at the same time breathing devotion to the Wilson league is cited by 
no less an authority than Col. Edward M. House, who is breaking his 
habitual silence long enough to let the world surmise that he is not 
"absolutely at one" any longer with his illustrious friend, the Presi- 
dent. Col. House has issued a statement in London which says, among 
other things: 

"The only unfavorable impressions concerning the functioning of 
the league are laid at the door of the allied powers, the most recent 
instance being the renewal for one year of the Anglo-Japanese treaty. 
While both governments' at interest admit that the present treaty is 
not entirely consistent with the spirit of the covenant, which both 
governments earnestly desire to respect, they say they accordingly 
have the honor jointly to inform the league that they recognize the 
principle that if said agreement be continued after July 21, 1921, it 
must be in a form which is not inconsistent with that covenant." 

The desire of England and Japan to respect the league, in short, 
is secondary to their desire to maintain a military alliance. They 
cannot dodge the fact that the league and the alliance are incom- 
patible. Hence they solve the problem by this neat bit of diplomatic 
jugglery: They recognize the "principle" of the league, but they 
continue the practice of armed alliance. Is not a principle one thing 
and a practice another? If two nations are not quite ready to square 
their practices with their principles, is it not sufficient to declare for 
the principle and then continue the old practice? After all, say 
England and Japan, principle is one thing and practice another. This 
is a practical world, trying to adapt itself to ideal principles. The 
ideal must always precede the real. We strive to improve. We are 
feeble mortals. We love ideal principles, but until they are realized 
we must not abandon actual practices. 

[549] 



COL. HOUSE SPEAKS 

Is not that a highly satisfactory explanation to those Americans 
who scoff at the league of nations? 

Possibly England and Japan are expecting a decision in the 
United States by July, 1921. They are not in a hurry. By renewing 
their armed alliance they are enabled to sit back and permit the 
United States to decide whether to join the league or not. If the 
United States should throw its overshadowing power into the scale 
and commit its fortunes to the league, then Great Britain and Japan 
can safely abandon their armed alliance, since they will have drawn 
the United States into a diplomatic mechanism which can be manipu- 
lated always to the advantage of the great powers. If the United 
States at the forthcoming elections should refuse to join the league 
and President Wilson should go out of office without having forced 
the league through the Senate, the Anglo-Japanese treaty will still 
be in effect, and the two powers can easily notify the league that 
they have decided to remain in armed alliance in view of the refusal 
of the United States to become a partner in European- Asiatic politics. 
They will continue to deal in actualities, in other words. 

Col. House has done the state some service by giving out this bit 
of information. What other information have you, Col. House, which 
would be helpful to Americans in preparing for their great and 
solemn referendum? Would it not be well for you to write in con- 
siderable detail regarding your conferences with other world states- 
men during 1917, 1918 and 1919? The voters of the United States 
have never been accurately or fully advised concerning the commit- 
ments made in their name or in their behalf. They are confused by 
the President's statement that they incurred an obligation to join the 
league of nations as shaped at Paris, without the right to make any 
changes in the contract which would safeguard American indepen- 
dence, rights or interests. They do not know exactly how this obli- 
gation was incurred, or by whom. Did you incur it, Col. House? If 
so, you would confer a great favor upon your countrymen by giving 
them information regarding the time, place and extent of the trans- 
action ; the nature of your instructions ; the reasons for assuming such 
unprecedented authority without consulting your principals; the char- 
acter of the concessions obtained from foreign nations in return for 
this American concession, etc. Did Great Britain and Japan make 
any confidential agreement with you or with any other representative 
of the United States? If so, what was the agreement? 

Now that you have gained your voice, Col. House, please speak 
freely ! 

[ 550 1 



Friday, July 23, 1920 

Senator Harding's Speech 

ON ACCOUNT of the unprecedented conditions through which 
Americans hope to work their way to tranquillity and pros- 
perity, the speech of Senator Harding, accepting the Republi- 
can nomination for the Presidency, has been awaited with eagerness 
and natural concern. 

What manner of man is he who may be the next President of 
the United States? How does he think? What are his strong points, 
and what are his weak ones? Is he possessed of the moral courage 
to say Yes or No when occasion demands finality? Does he have the 
faculty of cooperating with others, without which the most brilliant 
leadership ends in melancholy wreckage? Is he a man who assimi- 
lates his patience with time, and his sympathy with a continent of 
States, so that he moves forward not erratically, but surely, as a 
nation ought to move? Is his heart warmed with American blood? 
Is his method of action prudent, moderate, unwavering, and based 
upon careful thought? 

These and many other unspoken questions are answered by Sena- 
tor Harding in his address of acceptance. It is not only what he says, 
but the manner in which he says it that makes up the revelation of 
himself which the people have awaited. 

The Republican leader has a great advantage because of the issue 
that is presented. He is compelled to defend Americanism. Who 
would not be delighted to do that? He is required to declare him- 
self against the wiles of foreign influence and the dangers of foreign 
entanglements. Who is the clear-headed American who does not 
respond to such a declaration? He must oppose the Wilson league 
of nations on account of its attempt to contradict and nullify the Con- 
stitution. Does he not strike a responsive chord in American hearts? 
He is forced to advocate a return to the practice of cooperation be- 
tween the legislative and the executive. Is not such a practice desir- 
able? 

Mr. Harding's address is so frank and unhesitating on matters 
heretofore treated with reserve that the effect of his entire utterance 
is invigorating and inspiring. He does not pick the league to pieces — 
he smashes it with a few blows. He does not equivocate about the 
making of peace — he will make peace as soon as Congress can pass an 
act for him to sign. This means an extra session of Congress imme- 

[551] 



SENATOR HARDING'S SPEECH 

diately following March 4, if Mr. Harding should be elected, and the 
enactment of the Knox resolution or its equivalent without further 
ado. Evidently the way to make peace is to make peace, in Mr. Hard- 
ing's opinion. The way to secure cooperation among the nations is 
to secure it, not by entangling them in compromising and fatal meshes, 
but by the voluntary exercise of sovereign power, each nation co- 
operating according to the nature of its constitution and acting in 
response to its own free will. 

At the moment when Mr. Harding warns his countrymen against 
the entanglements that would result from American participation in 
the league of nations, the word comes that the European powers are 
disposed to ask the United States to send armed forces to assist in 
saving Poland. What will Americans think of dispatching their sons 
on such an errand? Are they ready and willing to make their sons 
a living, dying and dead wall of flesh to hold back the flood of bolshe- 
vism, so that Poland may escape scot free after having tried to steal 
Russian territory? Is it America's quarrel? 

Notwithstanding Poland's fatal mistake in invading Russia, the 
nations in the league of nations are pledged to defend her as soon as 
the bolsheviki threaten her integrity. Article X is about to come into 
action. If the United States had ratified the treaty, Americans at this 
moment would be face to face with war in Poland or an infamous 
betrayal of their own honor. They would not hesitate. They would 
remobilize and send their boys to fight. 

Mr. Harding discusses the industrial situation, the need of pro- 
duction, Mexico, suffrage, law enforcement, the restoration of the 
dollar and the reduction of high prices and many other important 
problems. But they can wait, and they will wait until the one supreme 
issue has been settled. The question whether the United States shall 
be master of itself and of its actions envelopes and includes all other 
questions. Transfer the direction of American policy from Americans 
to foreigners and there will be little occasion for discussing Mexico, 
the high cost of living, the value of the dollar, or any other question, 
for it will not be settled by Americans in any event. 

In vain do Americans speak of other issues. In vain do they try 
to understand how the league shaped at Paris will direct nations and 
yet leave them uncontrolled. In vain do advocates of the league 
argue that America can entangle herself and still be free. The argu- 
ments advanced by Mr. Harding are unanswerable in logic, and fate- 
ful events in Europe are making them unanswerable in fact. 

[552] 



Wednesday, July 28, 1920 
After Six Years 

SIX YEARS ago today Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, 
> and thus started the train of events that have changed the lives 
of all men and nations on this planet. Austria-Hungary was 
large and Serbia was small. The Teuton plan for creating Mitteleu- 
ropa was obstructed by Serbia. The Balkan war was to have made 
the crushing of Serbia a mere incident, but contrary to all expecta- 
tions Serbia emerged from that war stronger than ever, while Bul- 
garia, the traitor nation, was frustrated in the attempt to betray 
neighboring nations to the Teutons and the Turks. Nothing had gone 
in the Balkans as the Hohenzollern-Hapsburg conspirators had 
planned. The route from Hamburg to Bagdad was still impeded by 
the intractable Serbs, who could neither be bribed nor bullied into 
subserviency to the Teuton imperial scheme. 

It was necessary that the Teutons should force their scheme 
through without further delay. The Kiel canal had been completed 
and Germany's fleet could thus utilize the North Sea or the Baltic 
at will. The German and Austrian armies and armaments were never 
in better condition. Great Britain had been deceived into a slacken- 
ing of pace in naval construction, which was a point in favor of imme- 
diate action. The nations were so grouped and so armed that the 
advantages lay with the two central powers. All circumstances and 
contingencies were carefully reviewed by the imperial plotters and 
their accomplices, and finally, at Potsdam, on July 5, 1914, it was 
decided that Austria-Hungary should make war on Serbia. The 
assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand on June 28 afforded 
a good excuse, whether the murder was arranged for the purpose or 
whether it was a mere coincidence. 

The plan of the Teutons was to strike swift and shattering blows 
at any and all antagonists who might appear on Serbia's side. The 
die having been cast, it did not matter to the Teutons how many 
nations joined in hostilities. They had estimated the war capabili- 
ties of each, and were more than confident that the interior position, 
thorough organization and quicker execution of plans would give the 
central powers the victory in a very short time. As the prospect of 
hostilities hardened into a certainty, the war fever of the Teuton war 
lords and their advisers developed into a frenzy which could no 
longer weigh facts or reason consequences. They would have fought 

[5531 



AFTER SIX YEARS 

the universe. There is no truth in the assumption that Germany 
would have abandoned her purpose if she had known that Great 
Britain was to enter the fight. Long afterward, when Germany was 
not flushed with fresh strength, a more dangerous power than Great 
Britain notified Germany to mend her ways, and the notice went for 
naught. It was ordained that Germany's thirst for blood should bring 
her down to dust, and that those who drew the sword should perish 
by the sword. The process is not yet complete, but it has gone far 
enough to be plain to all men. 

Austria-Hungary is no more, but Serbia survives and is greater 
than before. 

The Teuton war lords and their chief men reckoned badly from 
the first day of the war to the very end. Trained, rigid, courageous 
and skillful as they were, one plan after another went wrong, as 
though an unseen hand had reached down from the sky and dis- 
arranged their legions. Instead of concentrating their strength in the 
region most accessible to them and most inaccessible to their greater 
enemies, and thus crushing Serbia within a week or two, the Germans 
went toward Paris. They created one obstacle after another in front 
of their own forces, and twice fought to a standstill at the Marne. 

Mitteleuropa was a feasible plan except for Serbia. The Teutons 
could have crushed Serbia in August, 1914. Probably, if they had 
done so, they could have completed the links in the chain from Ham- 
burg to Bagdad in such fashion as to make Mitteleuropa a self-sus- 
taining reality, capable of defying the entire world. The Germans 
could have dug in along the French and Russian borders, and neither 
the Russian nor the allied armies could have blasted their way 
through. The British fleet could not have taken Constantinople, as 
facts proved, nor could it have dislodged the German fleet. Strength- 
ened by the close military and economic cooperation of the countries 
•opposing Mitteleuropa, the directing heads in Berlin could have 
waited for peace overtures from the baffled allies. 

July 28 of every year should be celebrated by all civilized nations 
in honor of Serbia. That nation risked literal extinction rather than 
surrender its soul. It suffered more than Belgium, but like Belgium 
its undaunted spirit enabled it to scorn suffering. All the annals of 
heroic deeds which shed luster upon human nature are dimmed by the 
record of Serbia in the struggle beginning July 28, 1914. 

The victory that was won by allied valor is not effective for peace, 
for reasons which all men know and which Americans especially 
deplore. 

[554] 



Sunday, August 8, 1920 

Gov. Cox on the Supreme Issue 

WITH a certainty that has behind it the force of destiny, the 
supreme issue thrusts itself into the campaign. Gradually 
but inexorably the wrappings of politics and false reason- 
ing are falling away from the league of nations project, leaving this 
naked question: "Shall the United States remain in exclusive con- 
trol of its own policy, or shall it share that control with foreigners?" 

Gov. Cox of Ohio is a most attractive man, a Democrat of ability, 
and in many respects admirably fitted to administer the office of Presi- 
dent. If he could have avoided the fatal proposal that has com- 
mitted his party to entanglements in European politics and wars, he 
could have counted upon the united and enthusiastic support of his 
party, to which would have been added a fair share of the indepen- 
dent vote, attracted by his winning personality. But the Democratic 
party is split over the league of nations issue, and no ingenuity of 
language can repair the breach. So long as the administration wing 
of the party insists upon embroiling the United States in European 
politics the opposing wing will resist the attempt with all its might, 
believing conscientiously that it is obeying a duty that rises above 
party obligations. 

Those Democrats and independent admirers of Gov. Cox who had 
hoped for illumination and leading on the league of nations issue must 
confess disappointment in reading his speech of acceptance. But 
they must not criticize Gov. Cox for failing to accomplish the impos- 
sible. In order to satisfy the orthodox wing of the Democratic party 
Gov. Cox would have had to align himself with Thomas Jefferson 
against Woodrow Wilson. If he had done this he would have been 
charged with repudiation of the Democratic party's great modern 
leader, the winner of the war and the founder of the league of nations. 
That would have precipitated conflict more bitter, if not more deter- 
mined, than the present conflict in the party. 

Gov. Cox does his best to prove that the United States can share 
control over its own will and yet retain full control. That he fails is 
not surprising. It is an impossible attempt. But what is somewhat 
surprising is Gov. Cox's ingenuous effort to convince his hearers that 
the league covenant cannot violate the Constitution, and his proposal 
in the next breath of a reservation intended to prevent such violation ! 
Which position taken by Gov. Cox is correct? 

[555] 



GOV. COX ON THE SUPREME ISSUE 

Another observation made by Gov. Cox is so naive in its miscon- 
ception of history and fact that the attentive student of the league 
instantly makes allowance for the error, well knowing that Gov. Cox 
has been extremely busy in administering a great commonwealth. 
He has done his duty faithfully, and therefore he could not have 
spared the time to master a subject that requires the most searching 
and patient study. Gov. Cox says: "The Monroe doctrine is the 
very essence of Article X of the Versailles covenant." Of course, he 
would not repeat that statement upon closer analysis either of the 
Monroe doctrine or of Article X. They are essentially opposed and 
antagonistic, and cannot exist in full vigor in the same world together. 

Thomas Jefferson, the patron saint of the Democratic party, in 
discussing the treaty-making power, wrote: 

"The Constitution thought it wise to restrain the Executive and 
Senate from entangling and embroiling our affairs with those of 
Europe." 

Mr. Jefferson said of the Monroe doctrine: 

"This sets our compass and points the course which we are to 
steer through the ocean of time opening upon us. Our first and funda- 
mental maxim should be, never to entangle ourselves in the broils of 
Europe; our second, never to suffer Europe to intermeddle with cis- 
Atlantic affairs." 

The reader will pardon these citations, which have been Demo- 
cratic gospel for a century. This gospel was as truly revered by Gov. 
Cox as by any other faithful Democrat, up to the hour when the 
illusory league of nations scheme misled men in high places. 

Jefferson, or Wilson? Under which king, Bezonian of Ohio? 

On the fundamental question of preserving exclusively American 
control of American policy, the Democratic party is split. That is a 
fact of supreme importance to Gov. Cox and all other Democrats. It 
is useless to discuss what Gov. Cox would do in domestic affairs if 
elected President, so long as the votes necessary to elect him are 
grouped in two great opposing armies, locked in a death grapple. If 
the new leader cannot make peace between those armies it is too 
much to expect that he will be afforded an opportunity to apply his 
theories in the making of industrial or world peace. 



[556] 



Tuesday, August 17, 1920 
Three That Stand Together 

EUROPEAN conditions at this moment emphasize with special 
force the warning against any breach among the nations that 
defeated Germany. The welfare and perhaps the existence of 
all free nations depends upon their unity. If they quarrel among 
themselves they will open their gates to both autocracy and anarchy. 
The very walls of civilization are under assault. Civilization, through 
its strongest manifestation, that of well-organized homogeneous 
nations, must beat off these assaults or perish. Every diminution of 
national feeling is a weakening of the force of civilization. The prin- 
cipal active enemy of civilization at this moment is making his strong- 
est attack, in fact, upon the principle of nationality. He hopes to 
delude men into the belief that they can make themselves a common 
brotherhood, eliminating nationalities and ignoring racial differences. 
The idea deceives many unthinking individuals and does much to 
demoralize the patriotism that won the war against Germany. 

It has been necessary for the United States government to speak 
without qualification in opposition to the Russian reds and their pro- 
posed substitute for nations. The American note is essentially a 
whole-hearted defense of the nations that were lined up against Ger- 
many. But minor differences of opinion inevitably occur in affairs 
of such magnitude, and the United States has found itself unable to 
agree with Mr. Lloyd George's policy of treating with the bolsheviki 
with a view to making a peace treaty. The American opinion coin- 
cides with that of the French government. France, however, has 
gone much further, by recognizing Gen. Wrangel's organization as 
the de facto government of South Russia, a step which Great Britain, 
in turn, cannot bring itself to approve. 

A section of the French press has jumped to the conclusion that 
since the United States and Great Britain have divergent views on the 
subject of the reds there is developing a new relationship among the 
principal powers, in which the United States and France will join 
forces in opposition to Great Britain. The anti-British elements in the 
United States entertain the same erroneous opinion. In France the 
belief also seems to be growing that the United States is on the 
point of extending powerful military aid to Poland, thus supporting 
France's policy toward Wrangel and accentuating America's disagree- 
ment with Mr. Lloyd George's policy. But the United States will not 

f 557 1 



THREE THAT STAND TOGETHER 

send forces to defend Poland. The American people are overwhelm- 
ingly against such a venture and Mr. Colby had no such thing in 
mind when he expressed sympathy with Poland. 

It would be well for the United States government immediately to 
set French public opinion right on these important matters. The 
greatest misfortune that could overtake the world now would be a 
falling-out of the British, French and American peoples. With those 
peoples standing together in open and honest friendship, resolved to 
tell the truth and face facts, the powers of evil cannot prevail over 
free nations. But with these peoples suspicious of one another and 
refusing to cooperate together, all nations would be imperiled. 

David Lloyd George is a many-sided man whose activities reach 
to the ends of the earth. He is the principal figure on the side of those 
nations that are defending the established order of society — the 
family, the home, the nation and government by consent of the gov- 
erned. Against him is opposed an evil genius of misrule, Nikolai 
Lenine, who seeks to destroy nations. These two men are the leaders 
of the forces that are grappling for mastery of the world. Men and 
governments must range themselves on the side of one or the other 
of these champions. The United States government, speaking for all 
Americans, has not hesitated in ranging itself alongside David Lloyd 
George. 

It seems to Americans that Mr. Lloyd George makes a mistake 
in dealing with the bolsheviki with a view to concluding a peace treaty. 
Mr. Lloyd George thinks he is not making a mistake in this respect. 
That is an honest difference of opinion, but it does not give any 
individual or government any excuse for believing that the United 
States government or the American people are one whit less friendly 
with the British government and people than they were during the 
fiery hours when Britons and Americans were mingling their dying 
blood in France. Britons and Americans stood fighting for France as 
well as for themselves, and those who fell were martyrs to the common 
cause of liberty. 

There cannot and will not be a dangerous breach between the 
American, British and French governments or peoples. The living 
bodies of these peoples, ranged side by side, constitute the last line of 
defense of all that free men hold dear. Two years ago today this 
fact was actually demonstrated in the furnace of war. Despite the 
perplexities and conflicting opinions of this hour, it is a certainty that 
no earthly power can tear apart the three nations that have kept this 
world free. 

[558] 



Friday, September 3, 1920 
A Question and an Answer 

THE following letter from a respected reader of The Post deserves 
answer, not merely because the inquirer is obviously sincere, 
but because he voices the idea of others who are inclined to 
support the covenant of the league of nations in the hope that it will 
prevent wars: 

"To the Editor of The Post: For the benefit of just a common 
man will you in your editorial column tomorrow morning, if possible, 
tell us just what a 'league of nations' would amount to were it devoid 
of 'Article X,' or its equivalent? How long would a 'weaker' country 
like Serbia or Poland last if the stronger nations do not agree to respect 
their territorial boundaries? Using simple English like that of the 
man in the street who wants information, will you please show why 
this one fundamental is not the 'heart' of this league or any league 
that shall be proposed? From a common man, a worker, one who 
has a struggle to live and one who never wants to see the conditions 
of the past six years come again." 

In order to discuss this subject intelligently it is necessary to 
distinguish between an imaginary or ideal league of nations and the 
actual league covenant shaped at Paris. It is hardly worth while to 
discuss Article X in connection with! an imaginary league. The 
United States is not asked to join in the creation of an imaginary 
ideal league, but to subscribe to an actual written contract, in which 
Article X appears. The answer to our correspondent will deal with 
the actual situation, not one which might be, if a league including 
all nations could be formed. 

The league formed at Paris does not include all nations. It is 
really "a league of some nations." Germany is not a member. What 
does our correspondent think Article X is worth in protecting Serbia 
or Poland against Germany? Some peaceful nations have agreed not 
to attack the weaker nations, but Germany has not made any such 
agreement. Even if she had, her agreement would be worthless. 

Poland is a weak nation, but Article X is supposed to preserve 
her territorial integrity and existing political independence. Yet Rus- 
sia, a nation not belonging to the league, strikes hard at Poland, and 
the reds are bent not only upon invading Poland, but upon destroying 
her independence. Thus it is seen in actual fact that Article X is 
useless in preserving the territory or independence of any small nation 

[559] 



A QUESTION AND AN ANSWER 

against the attack of a stronger nation that has no regard for Article 
X or the covenant or anything else. The nations that are pledged to 
preserve Poland are not keeping their pledge under Article X. 

Now, suppose the United States were a member of the league at 
this moment, with Poland suffering from external aggression and the 
leagued nations refusing to do their duty under Article X? Would 
the United States join the others in breaking the pledge, or would it 
go to the help of Poland, single-handed if necessary? Let our corre- 
spondent answer the question according to the impulse of his own 
heart. He may reply, "The United States will not break its pledge, 
come what may. But it is well that the United States for that very 
reason should be very careful in making pledges." 

The covenant containing Article X is not acceptable to Ameri- 
cans, in our opinion, for the reasons just given. 

Now, leaving the Paris covenant, and taking up the idea of an 
ideal league of all nations united to prevent war, the question of our 
correspondent becomes very pertinent. "Tell us," he says, "what a 
league of nations would amount to were it devoid of Article X or its 
equivalent?" We answer that a league of all nations, united to pre- 
vent war, would necessarily protect small nations as well as strong 
ones. It would maintain peace, so that Russia could not attack Poland 
nor Germany attack Belgium without suffering the penalty of uni- 
versal retaliation. As Russia would belong to such a league, it would 
not attack Poland, and as Germany would be a member, it would 
not (perhaps) attack Belgium. 

A league of nations such as our correspondent has in mind is 
utterly different from the league devised at Paris. The two must be 
kept distinct in the mind if the inquirer is to avoid great error. The 
ideal league of peace is a splendid vision, ennobling to mankind, and 
ardently desired by all men who are not robbers or murderers. The 
actual league is a written contract, utterly worthless for preserving 
peace, as Poland can testify. One league, the ideal, comprises all 
nations, and all of them animated with sentiments of peace, fraternity 
and honor. The actual league comprises only a few nations, and some 
of them have a queer idea of their duty under Article X. 

The question before the United States is not adherence to an 
ideal, splendid, universal league of peace, but adherence to a written 
instrument which is now, by actual test, a proved failure, and yet an 
extremely dangerous complication for an honor-loving nation like 
the United States. 

[560] 



Tuesday, September 14, 1920 
Maine and the Great Issue 

THE returns from Maine must bring a deadly chill to that portion 
of the Democratic party which, in defiance of plain warnings 
from all parts of the United States, persisted in the attempt 
to embroil the United States in European politics and to give Euro- 
pean nations a voice in the affairs of this hemisphere. 

Ten or even five years ago the American people would have 
regarded as madness any suggestion that the people of this nation 
should deliberately covenant to throw away their birthright of inde- 
pendent, self-guarding liberty for the sake of joining a general part- 
nership of nations having its central control in Europe. Yet so subtly 
were the webs of sophistry woven that tens of thousands of earnest 
Americans have been led by a spurious appeal to their altruism into 
actual belief that it was their duty to "serve humanity" by yielding 
the independence of the United States. 

It remained for the common people, including the women who 
now vote for the first time, to call a peremptory halt to this neurotic 
tendency to barter true independence for an illusion. The vote in 
Maine will be analyzed today from every angle, with reference not 
only to changes in the Democratic and Republican votes, but also 
with reference to the attitude of women voters toward the great issue 
of Americanism. There is nothing in the returns thus far received 
which can give comfort to those who would make American inde- 
pendence doubtful. On the contrary, a command comes from Maine 
directing the public servants of that State to hold fast to American 
traditions. This action constitutes a message to the sister States, 
advising them that Maine is not deceived by plausible arguments nor 
hustled by importunities into yielding one jot or tittle of Americanism. 
"Go thou and do likewise!" is the message of Maine to all the sister- 
hood of States. 

One of the fatal errors made by the San Francisco convention 
was its attempt to ignore the fact that at least one-half of the Demo- 
cratic party was opposed to the league of nations. The convention 
was in a very awkward position, and perhaps it was too much to 
expect that it would reject the plan evolved by the great Democrat 
who led the party and the country through the war. But the logic 
of the situation required the Democrats to reject the plan. How else 
could they expect to win votes sufficient to remain in power? With 

[561] 



MAINE AND THE GREAT ISSUE 

50 per cent of their number opposing the league, as disclosed by the 
Senate vote, it was the part of wisdom to stand by this faction, which 
could thus make a strong appeal to the Republican and women voters 
on other issues, with a fair hope of success. Gov. Cox is an attrac- 
tive man, vigorous and able, and if he could have been kept free 
from entanglement on the issue of the league of nations he could have 
looked forward with courage to the November decision. 

At least one-half of the Democratic party hoped that Gov. Cox 
would avoid committing himself upon the league. They were partly 
selfish in this feeling, but they were also loyal from a party point of 
view. They desired success in the form of a continuance of the Demo- 
cratic party in power. They knew that the handicap of well-nigh 
unanimous Republican and formidable Democratic opposition to the 
league of nations was too great to be overcome by any expenditure 
of energy or eloquence on the part of the President, Gov. Cox and all 
the leaders. If the Democrats of the Senate could not be swung over 
to support the league covenant the Democrats of the nation could not 
be swung over. The house was divided against itself. The question 
was, which side shall be selected as most likely to appeal to the inde- 
pendent voters in the nation? The convention having committed 
itself to the league, although not without throwing an anchor to wind- 
ward, Gov. Cox cut the anchor cable by going to the White House 
and committing himself entirely to the Wilsonian covenant. In his 
speech of acceptance he clinched this position by saying in plain 
words, "I favor going in." 

The predicament of antileague Democrats may be imagined. 
They love their party. They are in fact the backbone of the old 
Americanism that fought to a finish every foreign danger to the 
United States. Jefferson, the father of Democracy, is the authentic 
political ancestor of those Democrats of today who refuse to listen to 
any blandishment which would wrest from them their birthright. 

What Jefferson and other Democratic founders established, suc- 
cessive illustrious Democrats maintained and buttressed by massive 
additions. Up to 1918 the Democrats of the United States could justly 
claim that their party was in itself the living body of Americanism. 
In that year the rift appeared, and it has widened until the party is 
hopelessly split upon the fundamental question of adherence to 
Americanism. 

Neither earnestness nor eloquence nor industry can repair this 
breach. The days rush toward November. The people are waiting 
to register their will. 

[ 562 ] 



Wednesday, September 22, 1920 

"The Main Issues" 

i i r I ^HE cost of living and foreign relations seem to be the main 
issues," is the conclusion of Franklin K. Lane, in sum- 
marizing conditions throughout the United States. This 
statement is tested truth, but it is a generalization so broad that many 
persons will fail to understand its deep significance. Let us consider 
for a moment the three phrases "cost of living," "foreign relations" 
and "main issues." 

The cost of living is necessarily the main issue with every human 
being who must work to live, and there are few who are not in that 
category. Therefore the elements that increase the cost of living 
must have the study of all men responsible for the welfare of others. 
Perhaps it will be conceded that the high cost of war is the biggest 
and least acceptable of all items in the cost of living. If this be 
admitted, then it should be apparent that "foreign relations," covering 
questions of peace and war, are or should be the primary concern of 
every man who works for a living. If the United States is to go from 
one war to another, through mismanagement of foreign relations, the 
poor man need not waste time trying to skimp, for he will be over- 
whelmed by the high cost of living just the same. 

Mr. Lane's phrase, "foreign relations," is well worth study. In 
that phrase are the beginning and the end of American prosperity, 
independence and honor. This nation is said to be "^isolated" and 
inclined to a policy of "aloofness." Nothing could be further from 
the truth. Not for a single moment, since the Americans burst their 
bonds and formed a nation, has the United States been isolated or 
aloof from other nations. It could not be so, any more than an indi- 
vidual can isolate himself from all humanity. But, just as a fortunate 
individual can conduct himself with independence within bounds which 
do not infringe the rights of others, so a fortunate nation can conduct 
itself with independence while respecting the independence of others. 
The relations of an individual are largely within his own control; 
so the foreign relations of a nation are within its control. An indi- 
vidual may compromise his prosperity, his independence or his honor 
by contracting foolish or criminal obligations. So may a nation. 

When an individual incurs an obligation that gives rise to a con- 
flict between his own interest and his duty to others, it is universally 
held to be his moral duty to sacrifice his own interest for the sake of 

[5631 



"THE MAIN ISSUES" 

keeping others unharmed. He is presumed to have studied the con- 
sequences when he entered into his contract. Any waivers of his own 
rights are supposed to have been made with his full knowledge. 

When the United States enters into any relations with other 
nations which give rise to a conflict between its own interests and 
those of other nations, it is the moral duty of the government to refrain 
from taking advantage of any situation that would save American 
interests by doing injustice to other nations. The United States would 
be presumed to have studied the consequences before it entered into 
its contract. Any waivers of its rights would be supposed to have 
been made with its full knowledge. 

A proposal is now before the American people which, if accepted, 
will become a contract between this nation and others, binding upon 
all American citizens. The contract requires the United States to join 
in preserving many nations against invasion, without fixing any limi- 
tation upon the expenditure of men, money and effort that might be 
necessary to fulfill the nation's obligation. 

Preparedness for war costs money and increases the cost of living; 
but war itself costs still more. If all nations loved peace and would 
rather die than fight, there would be no necessity for preparedness; 
but there is no nation that would not rather fight than die, and some 
nations do not love peace. Germany prepared to kill her neighbors, 
and would have killed them but for the United States. No promises, 
treaties or leagues stopped Germany when she thought she could gain 
more by war than by peace. If there had been a league of nations in 
1914 it would have been attacked by the Germans just as quickly as 
the entente was attacked. The Germans thought they saw conquest. 
That was the signal for the war for which they had been long pre- 
paring. 

Americans do not want war, but they are among the peoples who 
would rather fight than die. They are not lovers of peace when peace 
will not conserve their liberties. If their government has been unable 
to conduct foreign relations in such manner as honorably to avoid 
war, Americans become reconciled to war immediately, and the cost 
of living is thrust from their thoughts. They concern themselves with 
making it costly for the enemy to live. 

Thus, after all, the "main issue" is not the cost of living. The 
main issue is such conduct by Americans, individually and as a nation, 
as will preserve their interest, their independence, and their honor. 
If they avoid blunders which compromise these essentials, they can 
make a better living than any other people under the sun. 

[564] 



Saturday, October 2, 1920 

The Concrete Issue 

THE announcement that Senator Borah has declined to make 
speeches scheduled for him by the Republican national com- 
mittee, because of his feeling that the Republican nominee is 
not strong enough in opposition to the league of nations, should be 
taken with a grain of salt. But even if true, it means nothing more 
than would a similar rumor that Senator Shields or Senator Reed had 
declined to speak for the Democratic national committee because he 
did not agree with Gov. Cox on the league issue. 

The league of nations issue is one upon which individuals may 
differ as to detail. Indeed, it is almost impossible to find complete 
agreement among individuals concerning the details of this issue, 
because of the variety and complexity of the subject. But what of 
that? The fate of this issue does not hinge upon individual opinions 
regarding details. It hangs upon the broad question: "Shall the 
United States become a party to the written contract framed at 
Paris?" 

Of leagues ideal and leagues hypothetical, of leagues with this 
advantage and without that blemish there are no end; and there are 
as many modifications and adaptations as there are individuals to 
propose them. But the United States is not confronted with the 
proposition of helping to shape an ideal league. It is confronted with 
the insistent demand that it shall not exercise its judgment at 
all, but shall join a league already shaped at Paris, in which the people 
of the United States had no part or voice. They were not consulted, 
but were kept in ignorance of the terms of the bargain. Their State 
legislatures and their national Congress had no idea of what was going 
on. The press could not obtain any accurate information. The Ameri- 
can delegation at Paris refused to give the people any information. 
Then, when the bargain was formed and signed by the American 
delegates, the people of the United States were informed that they 
must accept the arrangement just as it stood, or break the heart of 
the world. They were told that the United States had pledged its 
honor to accept the covenant, just as it was written. 

Senator Borah is so strongly opposed to the league of nations as 
framed at Paris that he would rather leave the Republican party than 
see it accept the covenant. Other Republicans think the covenant 
can be patched up by reservations. Still others, few in numbers, would 

[565] 



THE CONCRETE ISSUE 

accept the covenant as it stands. Among Democrats there is the same 
division of opinion. One-half of the Democrats of the Senate voted for 
reservations. Many Democrats oppose the covenant from A to Z. 
Others accept it without any reservations. 

It is impossible to obtain a verdict from the American people on 
November 2 which will reflect all these varying opinions. The ques- 
tion has been narrowed down to yes or no on the question of accepting 
the Paris covenant. A written contract, signed by some of the parties, 
and awaiting the approval of others, cannot be overhauled and 
amended to suit the parties who have not yet signed. It must be 
accepted or rejected. If there is overhauling to be done, all the parties 
have a right to be consulted. The only practicable method to pursue 
in case of failure to satisfy all parties is to tear up the contract and 
write a fresh one. That, in our opinion, is what will be done in 
this case. 

The covenant drawn up at Paris does not take into consideration 
the peculiar government of the United States. Apparently the covenant 
was written by foreigners, who know nothing of the United States 
Constitution. The demand that Americans shall accept it, merely 
because Americans signed the treaty, is pure effrontery. The people 
of the United States did not authorize any one to sign the treaty or 
commit this country to the covenant. The head of the American 
delegation, President Wilson, was so preoccupied by weighty affairs 
that he must have overlooked the conflict between the covenant and 
the Constitution. A close inspection before signing the covenant 
would have caused him to withhold his signature to a contract which 
would take from the United States the control of its relations with 
other nations and compel it to take orders from a foreign council. 
Such a plan cannot be carried into effect without dealing a deathblow 
to the Constitution. So long as the Constitution remains effective the 
President and the Senate cannot barter away the nation's control of 
its affairs. The ratification of the treaty without reservations would 
inevitably bring the question before the Supreme Court, and that 
body would be compelled to choose between the Constitution and the 
treaty. As the Supreme Court cannot set aside the Constitution and 
survive, the treaty would have to perish. Thus all the effort would 
be in vain, even if the treaty should be ratified. 

The plans of individuals for or against ideal leagues mean nothing 
just now. A concrete proposition is before the people. It is the 
acceptance or rejection of that proposition which they must decide. 



[5661 



Sunday, October 3, 1920 
Time to Lift the Burdens 

AS PRACTICAL lawmakers, charged with the duty of promoting the 
j^\^ public welfare, senators and representatives will face urgent 
tasks upon the reassembling of Congress in December. What- 
ever the result of the election, the work of Congress will not be 
lightened, and the obligation of each legislator will remain, whether 
he be Democrat or Republican. Many of the questions that need 
adjustment are nonpartisan, or should be, and a willingness to dismiss 
"politics" in dealing with these questions will be evidence of con- 
scientious desire to promote the people's welfare. 

In all matters affecting public and private finances Congress can 
legislate best by completely forgetting partisanship. It is easy to 
criminate and recriminate. During the campaign it is perhaps allow- 
able for the outs to blame the ins for heavy taxes, extravagance, lack 
of foresight, favoritism, and so on. It is equally allowable for the 
ins to denounce the outs for failing to give full credit for great work 
performed in prosecuting the war, despite extravagance and loss. But 
after the election it will be a waste of time to exchange partisan criti- 
cism. Each legislator will then be faced with an immediate task affect- 
ing all the people. If he is a faithful and able legislator he will 
change his attitude from partisanship to patriotism, and his viewpoint 
from sectionalism to nationalism. 

The United States is running on an excess of paper money. The 
vice of inflation is not as serious here as it is in Europe, but there is 
inflation nevertheless. There must be a settling-down procedure. If 
the government does not assist this procedure by well-considered laws, 
the shakedown will come in response to the rude but peremptory laws 
of economics, and many individuals will suffer loss and bankruptcy. 
Surely the combined patriotism and wisdom of national legislators are 
sufficient to devise methods of bringing the national financial system 
down to a solid basis, without injury to industry or individuals. All 
sections of the country and all classes of citizens stand ready to 
cooperate in a readjustment of prices, but they cannot act in concert 
unless they are given a rallying point and a national plan in which 
the government is the central figure. 

The gold production of the United States should be increased. It 
may be only one-half as much this year as it was in 1915, unless stimu- 
lated. Congress has as much power to stimulate the production of 

[567 1 



TIME TO LIFT THE BURDENS 

gold as it has to stimulate the production of cotton or wheat. The 
production of silver was stimulated during the war, and very properly 
so. Now, when the gold reserve has a tendency to diminish, it is 
proper that the government should increase the domestic gold supply, 
thus relieving the strain and sending into the currents of industry the 
invigoration of new blood. 

Taxes should come down, and they should be revised. It is no 
longer excusable to continue taxation that acts as a clog on enterprise. 
The country is not properly taxed. Foreign goods that come into 
competition with American goods should be so taxed as to give Ameri- 
can labor and capital a square deal in the American market. That 
is a right, not a concession. If an American does not have a right 
to enjoy the American market, where is that "equal opportunity" 
which is supposed to underlie American institutions? 

A just tax imposed upon foreign importations would help to fill 
the Treasury and would enable Congress to take off some of the more 
burdensome and inequitable income taxes. 

Another measure that would greatly improve the situation would 
be the refunding of the public debt, or at least that portion of it 
represented by liberty bonds. The present generation has fought and 
won the war, and about 250,000 Americans have been put out of 
commission physically, while many others have paid excessive taxes, 
lost their prewar business, suffered great inconvenience and expense 
by reason of increased rents and cost of living, and pinched them- 
selves buying bonds that promptly depreciated in value. 

Is it not mere justice to relieve these people? The cause for which 
America fought was not the temporary liberty and independence of 
the United States and the preservation of American rights during 
1914-1918. It was a fight for the preservation of American liberty 
and American rights for all time. Posterity will receive more benefit 
from the struggles of living and dead Americans of this age than has 
been conferred upon the present generation. Posterity should inherit 
some of the burdens as well as the blessings of present-day sacrifice. 
Posterity cannot pay in blood, as so many of the present families 
have paid, but it can pay in moderate taxation. 

The war debt should be refunded so that its term of payment will 
stretch over at least 50 years, with a sinking-fund provision that 
will amortize the debt without undue pressure upon the taxpayers of 
any single year. The growth of the country will make the tax easier 
each year, hence the sinking fund should be graduated so as to be 
lighter at the beginning than at the end. 

[568] 



Wednesday, October 6, 1920 
The Meaning of "America First" 

MUCH of the intensity of feeling which seeks to express itself in 
the phrase "America First" may be ascribed to the knowledge 
that America is in need of Americanization. This nation has 
a foreign problem within its own borders which it must solve success- 
fully before it will be in a position to spend itself in the uplift of 
other nations. 

The meaning behind the words "America First" is not selfish, as 
some individuals have tried to make it appear. The citizens who are 
trying to express their desires in these words are not picturing an 
America first in wrong, but first in right. They are not advocating an 
America first in war machinery and first in seeking war. What they 
advocate is the duty of Americans to attend to America first before 
attempting to reform the world. They would have America first in 
the thoughts of all patriots in order that the nation shall not suffer 
neglect or be enfeebled by distracted counsels. "America First" sig- 
nifies to them not a swaggering bully among nations, but a nation 
that first puts its own house in order before it poses as the model 
for others. 

There is a rapidly increasing foreign element in the United 
States, running now into millions of individuals, all of them in urgent 
need of assimilation into the body of citizenship. These foreigners are 
of all grades and conditions, from congenital idiots and anarchists up 
to accomplished artists and men of affairs. So long as they remain 
aliens by choice they cannot be regarded as the raw material of 
Americanism, and they are essentially parasites upon the country. 
Their interest is elsewhere. They drain wealth from the United States. 
They are here solely to get, and not to give. They escape civic duties 
and enjoy all the advantages enjoyed by citizens. Thus they create 
a discrimination against citizens by absorbing benefits and dodging 
responsibilities. 

Worse than this, however, is the degradation of Americanism 
through the presence of a large percentage of criminal, ignorant and 
unassimilable foreigners. Bad associations corrupt good manners. 
Pure Americans are contaminated by the vices of criminal foreigners. 
In some parts of the United States the injury to morals is shockingly 
evident. Aliens of the basest sort are admitted by thousands, as they 
can easily meet the requirements of the immigration laws. These 

[569] 






THE MEANING OF "AMERICA FIRST" 

elements constitute a poison in the American blood. The country is 
big and strong and healthy, but it is not made better by the constant 
injection of poison. The fact that the patient does not die is not 
proof that he is unaffected. Any one whose memory stretches back to 
1914 and 1915 can recall the ugly lineaments of the foreign enemy 
inside the American borders. It was most disquieting to patriotic 
Americans to discover that their land was permeated with elements 
that thought anything but "America First." Disloyalty to the Ameri- 
can flag was not merely incidental; it was the rule in some communi- 
ties, and the aliens and citizens who placed other countries first 
boasted of their contempt of the United States. 

There is nothing of the "Deutschland iiber alles" spirit in the 
intention of Americans to keep America first in their affections. Pa- 
triotism is not yet a crime, notwithstanding the crimes that are com- 
mitted in its name. The love of country is still a holy emotion. 
Without it there can be no valuable contribution to world welfare. 
The citizen who would throw away his own institutions for the sake 
of embracing a scheme of world government is of such unstable mind 
that he would probably throw over one scheme of world government 
for another still more fantastic, and thus accomplish nothing but dis- 
order and failure. America is not an experiment. The liberty and 
independence gained by the forefathers have been tested and found 
to be genuine. They are as actual as the everlasting hills, and should 
be as immovable. Why throw away tested liberty and tried inde- 
pendence, to experiment with other schemes which contain no checks 
against the weakness of human nature? 

The Constitution is wise in its provisions against excesses. The 
founders of this republic had no hesitation in espousing the cause of 
"America First." They knew that liberty and independence were real 
things, not the stuff of dreams, and they made every effort to make 
liberty and independence safe against the onslaughts of passion or 
crime. The founders put metes and bounds upon their own selves, 
their respective States and the general government. They were jealous 
of the prize they had gained by the sacrifice of their blood. They 
would not intrust liberty to any single authority within the nation. 
They encircled the Presidency especially with checks against all auto- 
cratic excesses. They feared the development of monarchistic and 
imperialistic tendencies. They knew the real attitude of Europe 
toward the republican movement in the New World. Hence they 
erected the Monroe doctrine as a fence around the hemisphere for the 
protection of the principle of government by the governed. 

[570] 



Friday, October 8, 1920 

Why the League Is Opposed 

THE public mind cannot fail to be enlightened by the clear-cut 
statements of President Wilson and Senator Harding in out- 
lining their respective views of the league of nations issue. 
President Wilson has made it clear that it is the particular plan 
evolved at Paris that is supported by the Democratic party. Now 
Senator Harding, at Des Moines, declares emphatically that he seeks 
the rejection of this particular plan. Speaking of Gov. Cox, Senator 
Harding said: 

"He favors going into the Paris league and I favor staying out." 

There cannot be any further misunderstanding on this score, and 
with misunderstanding removed there should also be removed the bad 
temper that results from misrepresentation, willful or ignorant. 

It has taken a long time for some Americans to understand the 
exact nature of this dispute between the Democratic and Republican 
parties. Too many voters have assumed that it was merely a differ- 
ence between tweedledum and tweedledee, between reservations which 
said something in a certain way and other reservations which said the 
same thing in another way. But there is no excuse for this haziness 
of mind. Every voter is morally bound as a patriot to study this 
question sufficiently to understand it, and no voter who can read Eng- 
lish need have any difficulty. 

The issue between the two parties has been stripped down to 
this proposition: Shall or shall not the United States become a party 
to the specific contract drawn up at Paris? 

From the hour this contract or "covenant" was published The 
Washington Post has opposed it so far as the United States is con- 
cerned. The covenant unmistakably pools the international affairs 
of the whole world and places them in control of a council. Although 
there are ambiguous words appearing to provide against a clash be- 
tween the covenant and the Monroe doctrine, the fact that the cove- 
nant and the Monroe doctrine would both be construed by the council, 
and not by the United States, is sufficient cause for rejection of the 
compact. The United States has never suffered the Monroe doctrine 
to be construed for it by other nations. The proposal that a foreign 
council should now have this power of construction, which might give 
European nations control of the destinies of all nations in this 

[571] 



WHY THE LEAGUE IS OPPOSED 

hemisphere, is intolerable to Americans who really know their rights 
and liberties. 

Another fatal objection to the Paris compact is the provision 
which pledges the United States to join in preserving the independ- 
ence and boundaries of other nations. That is a pledge so pregnant 
with possible wars in all parts of the world that it should never be 
given. It cannot, in fact, be given without grievous wrong to the 
coming generations of Americans. The present generation is free to 
fight for other nations or to avoid being drawn into foreign wars. Is 
not this present freedom due to the fact that the founders of this 
republic avoided such traps as the Paris compact? Why should the 
present generation assume that it knows what will happen throughout 
the long future of this country? Why assume that the present genera- 
tion is better able to dispose of future problems than will be the 
generation that is confronted by them? Wisdom existed before the 
present generation was born — witness the Constitution — and pre- 
sumably the coming generations will have their share of wisdom. 
At any rate they will be entitled to liberty of action. No dead hand 
of the past should hold them and their country in its stiffened grasp. 

Under the Paris covenant France could not have aided the 
United States to gain freedom and independence. Under that cove- 
nant Abraham Lincoln could not have intervened to save Mexico 
from a Hapsburg imperialism. Under that compact George III could 
have called upon the powers of the earth to assist him in pursuing 
George Washington and executing him as a traitor, and those powers 
would have violated their honor if they had not responded. Under 
the Paris covenant the United States would have been assailed by 
the whole world when it began to thrust Spain out of Cuba. 

These examples are sufficient to prove how dangerous it is to 
pledge succeeding generations. Time often makes wisdom foolish, 
and foolishness sometimes becomes wisdom. No Congress can bind 
a succeeding Congress, yet it is proposed that the present government 
shall bind all future governments of the United States. 

These are some of the reasons why The Post believes, with Sen- 
ator Harding, that the Paris compact is not the proper method of 
obtaining world cooperation for preventing wars. The Paris compact 
must first be obliterated and canceled. Then a practicable plan of 
voluntary international cooperation can and doubtless will be formu- 
lated, and the United States will gladly cooperate with other free 
nations for the world's welfare. 

[572] 



Sunday, October 10, 1920 

Why American Boys Fought 

FOR cool, impudent audacity there is no parallel to the state- 
ments of the individuals who assert that American soldiers went 
to death in this war in order to establish the league of nations 
as framed at Paris. Some of the advocates of the covenant do not 
hesitate to assert that the American boys had the covenant before 
their eyes when they fought and fell. These spellbinders actually ask 
their hearers to believe that the covenant is the sacred ideal for which 
the boys willingly gave their lives. From this mendacious starting 
point, the league supporters easily take the next step in impudence, 
which is the assertion that the United States will dishonor itself and 
betray the memory of the slain lads if it does not accept the contract 
which was drawn up at Paris. 

It is difficult to speak moderately of such offensive utterances. 
They grate so harshly upon the feelings of so many thousands of 
mothers and fathers, and so utterly distort and outrage the heart 
feelings of the soldier boys now asleep in the flag, that no politician 
has a right to use such argument, no matter how hard pressed he 
may be. 

An example of this effort to prove that American soldiers died 
for the covenant is the following, spoken by a member of the cabinet 
on the stump: 

"Many of their bodies now lie where the walls of the Forts of 
Folly fell, but their spirits brood over us as we come to the great 
decision. 

"All scales have fallen from their eyes; they see clearly the nature 
of this contest; they pity our prejudices, our bitterness, our partisan- 
ship, as clogs and impediments from which their spirits are freed; 
their souls call to our souls, they ask us to do on our battlefield what 
they have done on theirs; they preside over the spirits of simple and 
plain men everywhere who ask the governors and statesmen of this 
world to finish the great task, to establish the new order, to save 
civilization, to give freedom from fear and the possibility of progress 
to the children of men." 

Cunning words, these, well calculated to convince the unwary 
that the covenant is the be-all and the end-all of man's hopes for a 
better world. Oppose the covenant, and the soldier boys have died in 

[573] 



WHY AMERICAN BOYS FOUGHT 

vain. Oppose the covenant, and war will break forth again. Oppose 
the covenant, and civilization will not be saved; there will be no 
progress among men; humanity will be in the agony of fear, under 
the shadow of death. The spirits of the dead soldiers, we are told, 
cry out to Americans to vote for the league of nations covenant. 

The covenant of the league of nations is a written contract, as full 
of jokers and pitfalls as an apartment house lease. It is a bargain, 
struck in secret at Paris, containing several propositions which Presi- 
dent Wilson did not want, and omitting several things which he said 
must be had if the world was to remain safe or free. It flies in the 
face of the Constitution of the United States. It leaves in doubt 
some of the fundamental questions affecting all nations. It raises 
new doubts where there was no doubt before. It does not settle the 
differences among nations ; it does not disarm nations ; it does not pre- 
vent them from making secret treaties. 

Yet some of the supporters of the covenant ask their hearers to 
believe that the American soldier boys went to death ardently desiring 
this particular contract, and are now sending forth cries from their 
graves calling upon Americans to support the covenant without 
reservations. 

Was it to render doubtful the exclusive American control of the 
Monroe doctrine that the soldier boys fought? That is what the 
covenant does. 

Was it to make certain that the United States should participate 
in all foreign wars hereafter, not by its free will, but at the command 
of foreigners, that the American soldiers fought? That is what is 
pledged in the covenant. 

Was it to carry into effect imperialistic secret treaties that the 
soldier boys died? That is what the covenant does, and if these 
secret arrangements had not been approved at Paris there would have 
been no covenant. 

Was it to give Syria to France and Mesopotamia to England that 
the American boys sacrificed themselves? The covenant confirms 
these violations of the principle of self-determination and self-gov- 
ernment. 

How many American soldier boys would fight for the covenant? 
Let any advocate of the covenant put that question to his audience. 

Why not tell the truth, and admit that the American soldier boys 
fought for the American flag? Was there an American lad at the 
front who did not keep America first in his heart? 

[574 J 



Saturday, October 23, 1920 

Americans Will Control America 

ONLY ten days remain of the campaign. It is ended now, so 
far as the will of the people is concerned. There is no further 
basis for doubt as to the decision to be registered on November 
2. Every intelligent man and woman in the United States knows 
that Senator Warren G. Harding will be elected President of the 
United States. The probability of his election was very strong from 
the moment of his nomination, and has developed steadily into a 
certainty. The people are merely waiting to record the decision they 
have already made. 

It has been a memorable campaign. The candidates have fought 
energetically and ably. For the most part the campaign has been 
clean, and every fact that has a bearing upon the character and fitness 
of the candidates and the nature of the issues has been brought out 
and examined. 

The nation will breathe a sigh of relief when the returns announce 
the election of Harding and Coolidge. That hour will mark the end 
of the long and costly period of uncertainty, amounting to paralysis, 
which temporarily transformed the American ship of state from a 
glorious vessel on a glorious voyage into a rolling, exhausted hulk, 
the bewildered victim of vagrant winds and waves. Senator Harding 
personifies the determination of the American people to shake off the 
torpor of these days and resume again the exercise of their free and 
resolute will as a nation. 

There is nothing of antagonism toward foreign governments or 
peoples in this decision. The United States is not shirking any duty 
when it decides to remain the United States. On the contrary, it is 
taking the step required to energize its performance of duty toward 
itself and mankind. It cannot assume the moral leadership of the 
world if it surrenders control of its policy to foreigners. It must 
determine for itself just what it will do in its intercourse with other 
nations. No foreigner can know where America's interest, honor and 
duty coincide. How can it be argued that Americans should lead the 
world toward better times, if in the same breath it is insisted that 
foreigners are better qualified than Americans to direct American 
policy? 

The issue has been well thrashed out. The league of nations as 
devised by the delegates and their assistants at Paris is a dead thing 

[575] 



AMERICANS WILL CONTROL AMERICA 

so far as the United States is concerned. The repudiation of this 
war-breeding contrivance by the United States will be its deathblow, 
notwithstanding the hollow pretense of certain foreign diplomats who 
would thrive by the setting up of a new mechanism of intrigue. 

What of the future? What will the United States do, under 
President Harding, to aid the world? 

It seems probable that President Harding will call attention to 
the many fractures in the treaty of Versailles, which have compelled 
the allied nations to acquiesce in what amounts to a recasting of the 
treaty in vitally important matters. The Versailles treaty of today is 
not the treaty ratified by the nations. It has been modified by the 
supreme council in some respects and by Germany in other respects. 
Let any reader turn to the article which solemnly indicts William 
Hohenzollern and his subordinate criminals and provides for their 
trial and punishment. Let him ask whether Germany has turned over 
all the war equipment as required by the treaty. Let him inquire 
whether Germany has reduced its army to the figure prescribed. Let 
him ask whether German ships have been turned over to the allies, 
or whether they have been burned at their German docks. Let him 
investigate the reparation and indemnity question, and find out how 
much money has been paid by Germany to France, according to the 
terms of the treaty. 

Doubtless it will be agreed by the next administration and the 
Senate that the United States is not morally or otherwise bound to 
accept the treaty of Versailles. The incoming President will take 
counsel as to the best means to pursue in giving effect to American 
ideals of duty and honor. Just now it is impossible to predict with 
confidence what plan of procedure this government will adopt, but 
there is no uncertainty in the determination of this country to do its 
duty while preserving its freedom of will and action. 

The prospect of early resumption of the activities of this nation, 
following the long period of paralysis, will be the most reassuring 
news that could be sent to Europe. 



[576] 



Monday, October 25, 1920 
A Fact and a Fallacy 

THROUGHOUT the entire period in which the administration 
has attempted to fasten the covenant of the league of nations 
upon the United States it has been urged that European nations 
are in dire need of the league. The framework of the world cannot be 
held together except by means of the league, it has been asserted ; and 
now the Democratic candidate adds that the United States will suffer 
a panic unless it assists European nations to rehabilitate themselves 
through the league. 

Voters are entitled to the facts in this connection. They are also 
entitled to do a little plain thinking on their own account, in checking 
up the assertions of individuals who are trying to stampede the people 
into acceptance of the league. No individual is so highly placed that 
his mere assertion is either fact or logic. Everything said by any 
man, high or low, must stand the test of truth and reason or be 
discarded. 

The simple truth is that France does not favor the league and 
never did favor it. The scheme was forced upon France, and then only 
after President Wilson had been compelled to stultify the covenant 
itself by agreeing to a separate military alliance with France. If the 
covenant will prevent war, why should the United States and Great 
Britain make separate military alliances with France to keep Ger- 
many at bay? There is no reason why the individual voter should 
not ask that question of Gov. Cox. He cannot answer it. 

The reason why France was willing to accept the Lodge reserva- 
tions is not because she was anxious to see the covenant adopted. It 
was because France is building up military alliances, open and secret, 
with nations that can help her in keeping Germany at bay. One of 
these treaties of alliance was formulated by Premier Clemenceau and 
President Wilson, and is now pending in the Senate. If that treaty 
should be ratified, France will feel safe, regardless of the breakdown 
of the league of nations. In order to get the alliance France is willing 
to accept the covenant with the Lodge reservations or any other 
reservations. 

Will France agree to "scrap" the treaty of alliance in case the 
United States accepts the covenant with Article X included? Let 
that question be propounded to the French government and people, as 

[577] 



A FACT AND A FALLACY 

a test of the faith which the leading European nation reposes in the 
covenant as a preventive of war. 

The covenant is now urged upon Americans for financial reasons. 
Gov. Cox appeals to the pocket nerve of New Yorkers by telling them 
that Europe will break down unless the United States joins the league 
and becomes a receiver for the insolvent nations. Prosperity will come 
with the league, he says, but a panic will come without it. He explains 
this by suggesting that the nations can save money by cutting down 
their expenditures for armaments under the league plan. This will 
enable them to trade with the United States and absorb the surplus 
from this country. Unless this surplus is disposed of, he says, the 
United States will have a panic. 

Thus the disarmament provision of the league covenant is the only 
thing that stands between the American citizen and the poorhouse, 
according to the Democratic candidate. It is too bad that he did not 
sound the alarm before. The people have been listening for several 
months, but he has been too busy speaking of $30,000,000 slush funds 
to speak of the real danger. Now, at the eleventh hour, he announces 
that the world's welfare hangs upon the disarmament scheme in the 
covenant. 

Anybody who can read is free to analyze the disarmament plan 
in the covenant. It is said that forty-three nations belong to the 
league, including Great Britain, the strongest sea power, and France, 
the strongest land power. Let the voter read the disarmament clause 
and ask himself whether it can or will bring about the scrapping of 
a single tugboat by Great Britain or the demobilization of a single 
regiment of Senegalese by France. Nothing can be done under that 
provision unless it is done voluntarily by each nation; and each 
nation has always had the power to disarm itself. So long as it does 
not wish to disarm itself the league cannot make it throw away a 
single rifle, and each nation always remains the judge of its military 
and naval needs. 

The answer which league advocates are forced to make to this 
statement is that all nations are to disarm, unanimously and simul- 
taneously, by concerted agreement! To that baseless vision do these 
enthusiasts come at last. And they actually ask Americans to swal- 
low this windy stuff of dreams, when Germany is not included among 
the nations that agree to disarm, and red Russia is attacking all 
nations! The peace-loving nations, in short, are to strip themselves 
of arms, but the tigers and assassins among nations are to remain 
armed. 

[578] 



Wednesday, October 27, 1920 

Pitfalls Other Than Wars 

THE president of the council of the league of nations, M. Leon 
Bourgeois, says that Article X is not the heart of the covenant. 
It can be eliminated, he says, without modifying the effective- 
ness of the league. He is surprised that the discussion in the United 
States should revolve around Article X. "It is nothing more than the 
moral foundation of the covenant," says M. Bourgeois. "All that is 
efficacious in the covenant is set forth in other articles indicating 
penalties and sanctions." 

Let us leave to the bewildered Democratic champions of the cove- 
nant this statement from France. It is a stunning declaration, coming 
from the president of the council. Perhaps it can be met by discredit- 
ing M. Bourgeois. Why should the word of a Frenchman be taken 
anyhow, as against the author and finisher of the covenant? 

M. Bourgeois thinks there are other articles of the covenant more 
important than Article X. Is it not wise to look into that suggestion 
for a moment? 

It is true that the campaign discussion has revolved around Article 
X on the question of involving the United States in foreign wars 
against its will. But there are other pitfalls in the covenant, of an 
economic nature which may be as disastrous as war. 

At the moment when M. Bourgeois was suggesting that other 
articles of the covenant were more important than Article X, the 
former foreign minister of Italy, Signor Tittoni, discussed the economic 
situation as revealed by him to the league council at its meeting in 
Brussels. "We must have economic unity or we shall have a third 
internationale or Russian communism," he said. "All raw materials 
must be placed at the disposal of the whole world on an equal basis." 
He also declared in favor of the freest possible trading between na- 
tions. Asked whether he meant by this that there should be no 
protective tariffs, he said: "You must draw your own inference." 

Do Americans wish to pool the raw materials of the United States 
with those of the poorest nations? Do Americans wish to open their 
market, the richest in the universe, to the cheap labor products of 
overcrowded nations? If so, let them vote for the league of nations. 

M. Bourgeois and Signor Tittoni are not speaking idly. They 
represent the feeling of their respective countries, which are hungry, 

[579] 



PITFALLS OTHER THAN WARS 

ill-clothed and well-nigh bankrupt. They see the vast United States 
teeming with raw materials and accumulated wealth, capable of 
purchasing at prodigal prices all that France and Italy can produce. 
The temptation to fatten their own countries at the expense of the 
United States is irresistible. A drowning man will drown his rescuer, 
and a starving man will become a cannibal. 

While Signor Tittoni was foreshadowing free trade as the basic 
policy of the league of nations, Senator Harding was announcing that 
as soon as the Republicans returned to power they would inaugurate 
a "prompt return to the American system of protection for American 
industry." 

These utterances ought to induce the average voter to ponder the 
economic consequences of joining the league of nations. The voter 
has been warned that Article X commits the United States to foreign 
wars against its will, but he has not heard so much about the other 
provisions which give foreigners control of the economic policy of the 
United States in its relations with the outside world. It is a compli- 
cated subject, but perhaps the average voter will content himself with 
this fact: 

All questions making up the foreign relations of this country — 
political, economic and financial — will be adjudicated hereafter by 
foreign authority, and not solely by Americans, if the United States 
joins the league. 

If the league of nations is to exercise power it must gain its power 
at the expense of the nations. If it is not to exercise power it will be 
worthless as a preventive of war. 

If the United States should join the league, the league will decide 
whether the world shall have free trade or whether each nation may 
protect its markets. It will decide whether the national debts shall 
be canceled or whether the allies shall pay the United States what 
they borrowed. It will decide whether all raw materials shall be 
pooled, or whether the natural resources of each country shall belong 
to the inhabitants thereof. 

Inasmuch as Europe will control the league, and inasmuch as 
Europe is in need of rich markets, is deep in debt and is destitute of 
raw materials, any American ought to be able to foresee what will 
happen to his country if it should join the league. 



[580] 



Sunday, October 31, 1920 

The People's Reasons 

EVERY American voter, whether male or female, is now well 
posted upon the issues that confront the United States, and 
has taken the measure of the two candidates. Probably only 
a very small percentage of the voters have failed to make up their 
minds by this time. No doubt a large percentage made up their 
minds long ago. 

The election of Senator Harding is a foregone conclusion. The 
reasons for choosing him are numerous, but in the main they may 
be stated under two or three heads: 

The people want an end of the Wilson regime. 

The people are opposed to the Wilson covenant. 

The people have noted the campaign methods of Harding and 
Cox, and prefer Harding. 

On domestic questions the Republican program suits the people 
better than the Democratic program. 

The popular resentment against the Wilson regime is too heavy 
a handicap for Gov. Cox. It would have borne down any Democratic 
nominee. All the disillusions following the war, all the grievances 
nursed by the former soldiers and all the resentment against excessive 
tax burdens are making a target of the present administration. The 
idealists blame President Wilson for not achieving a real and lasting 
peace. The realists blame him for wasting time on impracticable 
ideals while the country was overtaxed and distracted by unnecessary 
war laws. The soldiers blame him for failing to clinch their victory 
over Germany. Many Democrats hold President Wilson responsible 
for the popular resentment against their party, while Republicans 
generally blame him for partisanship in asking for the election of a 
Democratic Congress and in naming Democrats as delegates to the 
peace conference. All these adverse factors work to discourage the 
election of a Democrat to succeed Mr. Wilson. 

Still more potent, however, is the opposition to the Wilson cove- 
nant as an obstacle to Gov. Cox's success. A Democrat might be 
acceptable as a successor to Wilson if the candidate were wholly 
disentangled from the influences of the present administration and 
pledged to terminate all these influences, including the Wilson peace 
plan. But Gov. Cox is pledged the other way. He is Mr. Wilson's 

[581] 



THE PEOPLE'S REASONS 

heir, residuary legatee, assignee and administrator. If elected, he is 
pledged to carry the Wilson peace plan into effect. Hence, his 
candidacy means a perpetuation of the Wilson policies to which the 
people so strenuously object. Those who hold resentment against the 
present administration might reconcile themselves to a Democratic 
regime if it meant an end to the present regime on March 4 next, but 
they are more determined than ever when they reflect that present 
objectionable conditions will be projected into the future if Gov. 
Cox should win. 

Many persons look upon personalities rather than upon prin- 
ciples in forming their opinions. They emphasize the personal element 
in political affairs, and believe that strong men will make better 
administrators than weak ones, no matter what the platforms may be. 
This type of voter has been scrutinizing the methods and words of 
Senator Harding and Gov. Cox. From all that can be gathered by 
country-wide expressions, the preponderance of opinion favors Hard- 
ing and his methods over Cox and his methods. Harding has not 
indulged in offensive criticism of his opponent, and has not made 
charges of unfairness or corruption against the opposing managers. 
He has kept the debate upon a high plane, befitting a man who will 
soon be speaking for the United States. His simple and strong 
utterances have gone to the heart of each subject. His dignity has 
been natural and usual, as a part of himself. His patience has con- 
vinced the people that he will not be erratic or vindictive in wielding 
power. 

Domestic conditions in the United States call for a change of 
government. The prospect of an influx of cheap-labor foreign goods 
requires the United States to put up the protective tariff barriers in 
order to safeguard American labor. If Americans are to receive 
wages sufficiently high to maintain their present standard of living, 
they must be protected against the cheap-labor products of Europe 
and Asia. Either American wages must come down or foreign com- 
petition must be offset by a protective tariff. The Wilson administra- 
tion has fought against a protective tariff and has arranged for a 
league of nations that will sweep away all protection and pool the 
resources of all nations. It is for this reason that many workingmen 
are turning away from the Democratic ticket, despite the efforts of 
Samuel Gompers to deliver them to Gov. Cox. The workingmen 
know more than their leaders. 



[582 



Wednesday, November S, 1920 

The People's Verdict 

THE people of the United States have rendered their verdict. 
By an overwhelming majority the voters have given their 
mandate that Warren G. Harding shall be President of the 
United States; that the Wilson covenant of the league of nations shall 
be canceled, and that the republic shall remain free and independent, 
both in the disposition of its domestic affairs and in the conduct of its 
foreign relations. 

The decision of the American people takes on aspects of majesty 
and tragedy. The voice of the people seems to be literally the voice 
of God as it thunders forth the will of a mighty nation. From Maine 
to California the massed millions gathered yesterday to register their 
will. They swept aside minor issues and idle gossip and went straight 
to the mark. Their purpose was to maintain the ancient place of the 
United States among the free governments, and to vindicate the right 
of Americans to control their own government. 

The tragedy of yesterday was the effort of mistaken Americans 
to commit the United States to a course of folly in merging its identity 
with other nations in a chimerical league of nations. The people 
never approved of the plan devised at Paris, and the more it was 
pressed upon them the more they rebelled against it. The disposition 
of the people is to let bygones be bygones, now that the verdict has 
been rendered and the account closed. A feeling of commiseration 
for the stricken President intervenes in the midst of the rejoicing over 
the election of President Harding. There is nothing but kindly feeling 
for Mr. Wilson, who believed always that his plan was right. 

There was never any doubt as to the decision of the people. The 
opposition to the Paris covenant was unmistakable. It sprang from 
the deepest sentiments of Americanism. The instinctive feeling of 
Americans of all parties has been that the United States is strongest 
when it is most free ; that it will never desert the standard of freedom, 
but must always be its own judge of the time, place and method of 
defending liberty. When an effort was made to stampede Americans 
into a European league they naturally rebelled, and on election day 
they registered their will that the United States should be and remain 
free and independent. 

President-elect Harding will go into the White House with the 
good will and stalwart support of the American people. Hundreds 

[583] 



THE PEOPLE'S VERDICT 

of thousands of Democrats were skeptical of the league of nations. 
The South generally was opposed to the plan, but for sectional and 
local reasons it could not vote for Harding. Now, with the sturdy- 
champion of Americanism elevated to the Presidency, the innate 
Americanism of the South responds to the desire of all other sections. 

The regions that were supposed to be debatable in this campaign 
were not doubtful at all in the returns. The States that were reckoned 
as doubtful have rolled up tremendous majorities for the Republican 
ticket. The result takes on the proportions of a landslide. 

Fortunately for the country both branches of Congress are safely 
Republican. This was greatly to be wished, inasmuch as a Republi- 
can President would be badly handicapped without a Republican 
Congress to support him and give effect to his plans. 

The nations will have occasion to rejoice in the verdict of the 
American people. President-elect Harding will soon give evidence of 
the sympathy and friendship of this country for all the stricken 
nations lately at war. The United States, in turning its back upon the 
fantastic league devised at Paris, is not unfriendly to its late allies in 
the war, but, on the contrary, is moving steadily toward a position 
where it can benefit them most effectively. It will do this, not by 
subordinating its will to a foreign tribunal, but by exercising its own 
free judgment on the problems confronting it, and thereby manifest- 
ing to the world the might and majesty of a great free people capable 
of maintaining their freedom and aiding others to gain it. 

President-elect Harding has outlined his program very clearly. 
Every American who cares to know what is coming is already in- 
formed. European nations, if they have not already taken note of 
Mr. Harding's words, would do well to scan them now, for they 
assume importance as the announcement of the future President of 
the United States. Moreover, they are the words not merely of a 
President, but of a President who is in harmony with Congress, and 
therefore they become the utterance of the United States itself. It is 
one of the misfortunes of Europe that it mistook the utterances of a 
President for the voice of the United States. We believe that this 
mistake will not occur again. 

All hail to the newly elected President of the United States, and 
to his wife, who will share the White House with him! May the 
confidence of the American people remain with the new President and 
support him in all the trying hours to come. 



[584] 



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